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 · Explainer
A fixed rate bond pays a set rate for a set term in exchange for locking your money away. In September 2026 one-year bonds averaged 4.35% and three-year bonds 4.56%, against 3.75% Bank Rate. FSCS cover is £120,000 per person per licence, and taxable interest costs more from April 2027.
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 · Analysis
5.76%: the 20-year gilt yield on 7 October 2026, the highest in Bank of England data going back to 2000. The 10-year yield, at 5.39%, is the highest since July 2007.
Rates & inflation · News · India
5.50%: the Reserve Bank of India's repo rate after a unanimous 25 basis point rise on 7 October 2026, with the stance moved to calibrated tightening. For NRIs it bears on rupee deposit rates and on the price of Indian bonds.
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.
Cash & savings · Explainer
A fixed rate bond pays a set rate for a set term in exchange for locking your money away. In September 2026 one-year bonds averaged 4.35% and three-year bonds 4.56%, against 3.75% Bank Rate. FSCS cover is £120,000 per person per licence, and taxable interest costs more from April 2027.
Cash & savings · Explainer
Basic rate taxpayers can receive £1,000 of interest a year tax-free and higher rate taxpayers £500, with up to £5,000 more at 0% for people on low incomes. Budget 2026 kept those allowances but raised tax on savings interest above them to 24%, 44% and 49% from 6 April 2027.
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.
Rates & inflation · News · India
5.50%: the Reserve Bank of India's repo rate after a unanimous 25 basis point rise on 7 October 2026, with the stance moved to calibrated tightening. For NRIs it bears on rupee deposit rates and on the price of Indian bonds.
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.
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