[alextokiwa]

Hello bkjmiller
You said you have some money saved and you want to put it in a bank. When you have some money the general idea is to put it in a bank with high interest rates so you can receive the percentage of the interests. That's the basic, but if you are updated with the inflation problem around the world, specially in the states, Uk and europe, and...also japan, then to put the money in a bank is almost sure and you will receive the interest whatever it may be, but your money will have less value and you wouldn't be able to buy the same things in one year that you can actually buy today.
Also you have the interest but right know the interest rate in UK is at 5%, in Japan is at 0.5%. Let's say you have 1000 pounds and you put it in a Uk bank, in one year you wil have 1.050 pounds, only 50 pounds for one year, if it is in Japan, you can imagine.
So my advice is that you should rethink your goals and reconsider your investing options.
There is some investment alternatives that you should lookout, and some of then risky but with potential returns. The stock market right know is in crisis, with ups and mostly downs, government saving bonds and US treasury Bonds are for a long time return, the gold market like almost all markets is unstable because of the high oil prices, that in words of George Soros, an American financial analyst, is forming a bubble effect, and everybody knows what happens with this kind of effect.
But still there are other options that you could check and maybe you'll find what you are looking for