Savings guides

How savings accounts work, in plain English. Facts and arithmetic, never personal advice.

Savings tax calculator: the tax on your interest in 2026/27 and 2027/28, worked out line by line.

• Cash ISAs and savings tax: what changes in April 2027From 6 April 2027 tax on savings interest rises by 4 points to 24%, 44% and 49%. The planned cut in the cash ISA limit has been dropped.
• Easy access, notice or fixed: matching the account to your timelineThe three main types of savings account, what each pays for, and the one question that decides between them.
• AER, gross and bonus rates explainedWhat the AER actually tells you, why bonus rates catch people out, and how we work out the pounds figure.
• Regular savers: why the headline rate overstates what you earnRegular savers pay the highest rates, but only on money that builds up month by month. Here is the arithmetic.
• FSCS protection: how the £120,000 limit works, and the shared-licence trapWhat the Financial Services Compensation Scheme covers, why two brands can share one limit, and temporary high balances.
• How to switch savings, including moving a cash ISA safelySwitching takes minutes, but moving a cash ISA the wrong way can lose its tax-free status. The steps, in order.

Savings with their own rules

• Cash Lifetime ISAsThe 25% government bonus, the withdrawal charge and the rates, with the bonus kept apart from interest.
• Savings for childrenJunior cash ISAs, children's regular savers, easy access accounts and fixed bonds, ranked by rate.
• NS&I and Premium BondsNS&I rates, and Premium Bonds' prize fund rate and odds, with what a typical holder wins.
• Help to SaveThe government's 50% bonus for people on Universal Credit who are working: who can join and how it adds up.