Cash total returns: a long run index for DIY investors

If there’s one asset we all definitely hold, it’s cash. So it’s odd that there isn’t a long-run cash index available – one that we can use to compare other investments against. Academics approximate returns to cash by resorting to treasury bill or money market rates. But what might a savvy UK investor have achieved with money in the bank? Monevator is devoted to DIY investing after all, and so an everyday cash savings index would better reflect the experience of individual investors. It would also form a useful reference point for future expectations. And so without further ado (I’ve always wanted to say that!) I present the Monevator cash total returns index. A UK cash savings index Our new cash index tracks the total return of UK savings accounts based on monthly interest rate figures going back to 1900. I’ve relied upon three sources: Pre-November 1939: the Bank of England’s A Millennium of Macroeconomic Data. November 1939-March 2004: the Building Societies Association’s BSA…