Now is a good time to start a Cash ISA. It’s possible to get around 4.5% on easy access, and more than 4.8% if you can fix for three of five years.

Let’s say somebody has £7,777 to put into a Cash ISA and can fix for 12 months. They may be tempted by Close Brothers Savings, which pays a best-buy rate of 4.67%. But that requires a minimum £10,000 opening deposit.

Market-leading savings rate

The Investec Save Fixed Rate Cash ISA pays 4.6% from just £1,000. If our saver opted for that, their £7,777 would be worth roughly £8,135 by September 2027. They’d have earned £358 in interest.

They’d have protected the real value of their money, with inflation currently running at 2.9%. But there are early withdrawal penalties if they need their cash before the fixed term ends.

Cash ISAs make a handy home for emergency cash and short-term savings. For long-term wealth-building though, stocks and shares are a much better option.

Over the last decade, the average Stocks and Shares ISA has delivered an annual total return of 9.64%, according to financial website Unbiased.

For much of that time, savings accounts were paying just 1% or 2%, so there’s a clear performance gap. That gap has narrowed as savings rates have risen, but for me, shares are still the way to go.

By investing in a portfolio of mostly FTSE 100 shares, plus a couple of US trackers, I’ve increased the value of my Self-Invested Personal Pension by 67% in just over three years. Cash will never do that.

Many investors are concerned about the potential AI bubble, and so am I. But there’s always something to worry about and over the longer run, equities have come out on top. I can see some compelling opportunities on the FTSE 100 today.

I love the Standard Life dividend

The share price of insurer Standard Life (LSE: SDLF) has increased 38% over the last 12 months. Its trailing dividend yield is 5.9%, which lifts the total return towards 44%.

After such a strong run, there’s a fair chance the price could slow. Its price-to-earnings ratio has climbed to around 17, much higher than it was.

Yet it operates in a growing sector, selling retirement products such as workplace pension schemes, as well as annuities and income drawdown products to individuals. As the State Pension comes under pressure, demand for private retirement products should rise. Standard Life has a big opportunity in the bulk annuity market, although competition here is fierce.

If we did get a stock market crash, Standard Life wouldn’t escape unscathed. It manages around £300bn of assets, and those would fall in value.

Even so, I think it’s still worth considering today as part of a balanced portfolio of stocks offering both potential share price growth and rising dividend income. Standard Life shares are forecast to yield 6.1% this year and 6.3% in 2027. And it’s not the only FTSE 100 income stock I rate highly today…

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Harvey Jones owns shares in Standard Life.