Savers' sorrow as it no longer pays to lock away your cash As providers continue their race to bottom of the best buy tables, savers woes persist for another week, especially those who rely on an income from their savings each month. Income seeking savers will struggle to find decent paying monthly income products as rates are getting worse and in fact, short term fixed rate products now pay less than you can get on some variable rate accounts," said Susan Hannums of SavingsChampion.co.uk. Fixed rate products can be ideal for those looking for a set monthly income, so savers know exactly what they will be receiving from the outset. However, savers now need to be locking their money away for at least 3 years or more in order to get anything around 3.25pc for monthly income. The Government has been blamed for falling savings rates, as earlier this month high street lenders have admitted that there is no incentive to offer competitive rates to savers while they can get cheap loans through the official Funding for Lending scheme. Basic rate tax payers need a savings account paying at least 2.75pc to beat inflation. The number of short term fixed rate savings accounts that match or beat inflation for a basic rate taxpayer is 49. Higher rate tax payers require a considerably higher rate of return to beat inflation, 3.67pc.