102 years of celebrating saving. But are we saving money, or actually preserving its value?
Every 31 October, World Savings Day celebrates the habit of putting money aside.
It’s a sensible habit. But 102 years after the first World Savings Day in 1924, perhaps we’re celebrating the wrong measure of success.
What good is a growing bank balance if your money doesn’t buy as much as you expected?
With UK savings rates improving, it’s a particularly interesting question.
Better savings rates. But are savers better off?
British savers have some welcome news.
According to Moneyfactscompare, average one-year fixed savings rates reached 4.41% at the start of October 2026, the highest level since September 2024. Leading fixed-rate accounts were offering more than 5%.
Good news for savers, surely?
Yes. But there’s a catch.
Some of the most attractive rates are only available on limited balances, sometimes just a few thousand pounds. And with fixed-rate accounts, your money is typically locked away for a set period, limiting your flexibility.
But there’s a bigger question. A healthy interest rate doesn’t automatically mean healthy savings. And a growing bank balance isn’t necessarily the same as growing financial security, particularly when rising prices are eating away at your money’s purchasing power.
Perhaps this World Savings Day, it’s time to rethink what we’re celebrating.
The Office for National Statistics reported annual UK CPI inflation of 3.5% in September 2026.
If you earned 4.41% interest over a year and inflation remained at 3.5%, your money’s purchasing value would grow by just 0.88% before tax.
Your balance might be rising, but the improvement in what it can actually buy could be much smaller.
Then consider potential tax on savings interest, fixed-term withdrawal restrictions and changing rates.
The question isn’t simply how much interest you’re earning. It’s how much value you’re keeping.
World Savings Day began in 1924. Money has changed a lot since then.
On 31 October 1924, representatives from 27 countries gathered in Milan for the first International Thrift Congress.
Their aim was straightforward: encourage people to save money and build greater financial security.
That principle still makes sense.
But the money we save has changed dramatically over the past century.
Today’s pound is no longer linked to a fixed quantity of gold. Its purchasing value changes as prices rise, and even competitive savings accounts don’t guarantee protection against future inflation.
So why measure successful saving purely in pounds?
For generations, people have turned to physical assets, particularly gold, as a way to hold wealth and preserve wealth over time.
Gold has a long history as a store of value, with a limited physical supply that cannot be increased through central bank policy.
For this reason, it offers something fundamentally different: ownership of a tangible asset rather than simply holding more units of conventional currency.
And today, owning gold doesn’t have to mean keeping bars in a safe.
TallyMoney: A different way to save, hold and spend
TallyMoney brings the long-established value of physical gold into modern financial life.
Instead of holding all your savings in pounds, TallyMoney is a monetary system that gives you direct ownership of real, physical gold, with the convenience of digital money.
Each tally equals 1 milligram of physical gold, securely stored in a vault.
And unlike traditional gold ownership, TallyMoney makes your gold practical for everyday use.
You can hold tally in your account, spend using your TallyMoney Debit Mastercard or transfer money when needed.
There are no fixed terms, no limits on how much you can hold in gold, and no restrictions on when you can access your money.
No need to buy and store gold bars yourself. No need to sell a whole bar to make an everyday payment.
And, unlike bank deposits, which have a £120,000 FSCS protection limit, TallyMoney lets you hold physical gold without that deposit protection cap.
So, for people looking beyond conventional savings accounts, TallyMoney offers a different way to hold wealth, with the convenience of digital money.
This World Savings Day, rethink what you’re saving
After 102 years, perhaps World Savings Day deserves a new question.
Not just “How much have you saved?”
But “How much value are you holding on to?”
A good savings rate is worth celebrating. Yet financial security is about more than the interest appearing on a statement.
It’s about what you own, what your money can buy, and having the freedom to use it.
This World Savings Day, consider giving your savings a different foundation.
Gold prices can rise or fall, and TallyMoney does not guarantee the preservation of purchasing value. TallyMoney is not a bank savings account or an interest-paying product. Fees apply.
