The desk
What lending your money pays after tax: gilts, corporate and retail bonds, bond funds, cash savings and money market funds, set against interest rates and inflation. This desk also covers where cash ends and investing begins.
Cash & savings · Analysis
Savers put £95.6bn into cash ISAs in 2024 to 2025, more than two and a half times the £37.2bn that went into stocks and shares ISAs. From 6 April 2027 under-65s can put only £12,000 a year into cash.
Gilts · Guide
Private investors buy gilts on the secondary market, through a platform, a broker or the DMO's own postal dealing service. Check the clean price, the accrued interest and the yield to maturity before you deal.
Gilts · Explainer
Gains on gilts are free of capital gains tax but coupons are taxed as income. A gilt with a small coupon, priced below £100, turns most of its return into the tax-free part.
Gilts · Explainer
The right comparison is what you keep after tax, and that depends on your tax band and your Personal Savings Allowance. Then weigh deposit protection against government credit, and a fixed term against a market price.
Money market funds · Explainer
Money market funds hold short-term debt and aim to track money market rates, but they are investments, not deposits. From April 2027 a stocks and shares ISA can hold them only as part of a portfolio.
Cash & savings · Explainer
From 6 April 2027 interest earned on cash inside stocks and shares and innovative finance ISAs faces a flat 22% charge. The ISA manager pays it, nobody can reclaim it, and it applies at every age.
Cash & savings · Explainer
NS&I's prize fund rate is 4.35%, but that is an average and most holders get less. Set against gilts and fixed-rate savings, the comparison turns on your tax band and how much certainty you want.
Rates & inflation · Explainer
UK inflation was 3.1% in August 2026, enough to turn a taxed 4% savings rate into a real loss for higher-rate taxpayers. Index-linked gilts pay more as prices rise, with price risk and a 2030 index change attached.
Corporate & retail bonds · Explainer
A bond is a loan you can trade: fixed payments, a fixed end date and a price that moves against yields. Gilts, corporate bonds and bond funds differ in who you lend to, how you get your money back and how they are taxed.
Cash & savings · Analysis
Savers put £95.6bn into cash ISAs in 2024 to 2025, more than two and a half times the £37.2bn that went into stocks and shares ISAs. From 6 April 2027 under-65s can put only £12,000 a year into cash.
Rates & inflation · News
3.75%: Bank Rate is unchanged after a 6-3 vote in which three members of the Monetary Policy Committee wanted a rise to 4%. The next decision, with a new Monetary Policy Report, is due on 5 November 2026.
Gilts · Guide
Private investors buy gilts on the secondary market, through a platform, a broker or the DMO's own postal dealing service. Check the clean price, the accrued interest and the yield to maturity before you deal.
Gilts · Explainer
The right comparison is what you keep after tax, and that depends on your tax band and your Personal Savings Allowance. Then weigh deposit protection against government credit, and a fixed term against a market price.
Cash & savings · Explainer
From 6 April 2027 interest earned on cash inside stocks and shares and innovative finance ISAs faces a flat 22% charge. The ISA manager pays it, nobody can reclaim it, and it applies at every age.
Cash & savings · Explainer
NS&I's prize fund rate is 4.35%, but that is an average and most holders get less. Set against gilts and fixed-rate savings, the comparison turns on your tax band and how much certainty you want.
TID Professional
Market view, vehicles and due diligence, regulation and tax for advisers and wealth managers. Free to verified professionals.
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