Savers in dark over inflation and tax

Nearly a third of British savers remain ignorant about the effects of inflation and tax on their savings, according to research by National Savings & Investments.

The government savings agency's survey of 1000 British adults in May found that 31 per cent were not aware of how inflation impacted on their savings and nine per cent did not know what inflation was.

More than a quarter of those asked – 28 per cent – did not know that their tax position affected their savings.

Levels of knowledge did increase with age, however.

For example, 45 per cent of 16 to 24-year-olds surveyed did not understand how tax affected their savings but 16 per cent of 55 to 64-year-olds fell into this category.