How to start saving

We've assumed your combined savings won't exceed £85,000 – if they do then you should consider spreading your savings across multiple banks. This is because the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) only protects up to £85,000 per person, per financial institution (£170,000 for joint accounts) – see Are your savings safe? for full info.

Regular savings accounts pay some of the highest rates it's possible to get, though you can only pay small amounts into them each month (usually between £50 and £300). They work best when coupled with one of the easy-access savings or bank accounts mentioned above. Here you want to pay as much of your monthly savings as you can into a regular savings account (ideally up to its maximum limit), keeping your surplus in the next-best paying account.

Many regular savings accounts allow you to withdraw your cash whenever you want, though not all do – so be sure to check before you apply if this is important to you. It's also worth noting that the very best interest rates are often reserved for existing customers or require you to have certain current accounts – though there are still decent rates out there that are available to all.

P.S. If you've lots of savings, you can open multiple regular savings accounts and drip-feed your savings into them.

As with easy-access accounts above, there's again a choice of fixed-term savings accounts and fixed-term ISAs. The same logic applies as before – only go for an ISA if you need the tax benefits – though if ISA rates are much lower then you may still be better off with standard savings, despite paying tax.

Both of these fixed-term options pay higher rates than their easy-access counterparts, but here your savings are locked away for a set period of time (often between one and five years). This means you don't have on-demand access to your cash.

We know it's important for many to be able to access their savings easily, so only go for these if you're sure you won't need your savings during the term.

It's also worth pointing out that you can usually access your money early in a fixed-term ISA – if you're willing to pay a hefty interest penalty. In contrast, with a fixed-term savings account, once you put your cash in, it's locked away for good until the end of the term.

P.S. Fixed-term savings rates have been steadily rising in recent months, with highs we've not seen for well over a decade. No-one can say for sure if rates will continue to go up as they have been, but it may be wise to fix for a shorter period, so your money's still getting interest, but it's not locked away for too long.