You’ve worked hard to accrue your wealth, so naturally, you’ll want to see your finances flourish and develop. That raises the question: how best should you grow your finances?

Many people are drawn to banks to save their money, opting for the chance to get some interest and their money back. But in a time of rising inflation, you may be watching your money devalue over time. The wealth of many people in the UK is under threat, as inflation has risen past interest rates to slowly reduce your money’s buying power.

With inflation vastly outstripping savings account returns by 2%, it may be time to seek out other more valuable options to invest. Michael Martin of Seven Investment Management told the Financial Times that at the current rate, a £100,000 lump sum will fall to £81,790 in just ten years.

However, every year we’re reminded that equities are far more likely to produce higher returns than cash deposits. The most recent Equity Gilt Study released by Barclays found that since 1899, British stocks have returned 4.9% a year in real terms, compared to 1.3% for gilts and 0.7% for cash. Over the last decade, the respective figures are 5.8% for stocks, 2.7% for gilts and a miserable -2.5% for cash.

An investment kept for five years at any stage has a 76% chance of outperforming cash, which is no small margin. However, if you extend the holding period to ten years, the figure climbs up to a dizzying 91%.

Ian Cowie, Personal Account columnist for the Sunday Times, says that shareholders “benefit from improvements in efficiency and inventions that occur over time.” Meaning that, as companies innovate and grow, the situation becomes mutually beneficial.

With cash suffering from a steady decline as time goes on, it may be better to look towards other avenues of financial development as a way to diversify your savings and help them grow.

It’s important to be aware that past performance is no indication of future performance and the value of investments (and any income from them) may go down as well as up, and you may get back less than you invested.

For more information on how you could invest your money and grow your finances, please feel free to contact us.