The three questions you should ask you cash-heavy clients.

The government wants people to invest. Britain, meanwhile, has decided it quite likes cash.  

That leaves us with something of a conundrum.

Recent analysis from Bowmore Wealth Group shows money held in UK savings accounts reached a record £2.2 trillion in the quarter to August. The savings-to-income ratio now stands at 11 per cent, well above the 30-year average of 7 per cent.  

In other words, this is not a short-term wobble. It is a habit.

Consumers are clearly behaving cautiously. Chancellor Rachel Reeves is calling or people to shift more money from cash into equities to “get the balance right” and support both long-term returns and the wider UK economy.  She needs a hand, lets face it.  The problem is that the country isn’t listening.

Charles Incledon, head of distribution at Bowmore Asset Management, puts it diplomatically.

“Households are continuing to prioritise short-term financial security,” he says. “But that money could be working much harder for them.”

He is not wrong. Cash rates have improved, but history remains stubbornly consistent. Over the long term, equities tend to outperform cash in both high and low inflation environments.

Bowmore’s analysis shows global equities, measured by the MSCI World index, delivered average annual returns of 12.6 per cent over the last ten years. Over the same period to July 2025, the MSCI UK government bond index returned minus 0.25 per cent per year, while cash ISAs averaged just 1.01 per cent.

Despite this, many households are sitting on large cash balances. Some have good reasons. Retirees may need readily available funds for short and medium-term spending. Others are saving for a property deposit and quite reasonably want certainty over capital.

But that still leaves a significant group who are holding cash largely by default. Not because they have a plan, but because doing nothing feels safer than doing something.

That is where advisers come in.

“Good advice can help savers balance risk, make the most of their allowances and build a strategy that protects and grows their wealth,” Incledon says.

This is not about persuading clients to abandon cash altogether. It is about helping them understand how much they actually need, and what the rest of their money is meant to be doing.

With cautious, cash-heavy clients, advisers may want to start with a few simple questions.

• What is your cash actually earning, after tax and inflation?

• Is your cash aligned with your goals, or just sitting there out of habit?

• How much cash do you genuinely need, versus how much you are keeping “just in case”?

It is not the role of financial advisers to deliver government policy objectives or rescue the UK equity market.  

Their duty is, quite rightly, to act in their clients’ best interests.

But for many clients, taking an appropriate level of risk with surplus cash is part of that responsibility. Over long periods, excessive caution can be just as damaging as excessive risk-taking.

The data suggests there is plenty of spare capacity for savers to put their hard-earned money to better use. Financial advisers are well placed to help them do so, calmly, proportionately, and without pretending cash is either a villain or a solution to everything.

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