People tend to compare and choose savings accounts based on their interest rates. Investors should do the same when picking shares.
For me the whole purpose of investing is to grow the buying power of your savings. To do this you have to get a return on your money that is greater than the rate of inflation. If you can do this then your money will buy more things in the future than it will today.
Before the financial crisis it used to be much easier and safer to achieve this. The rate of interest on savings and accounts and government bonds was more than the rate of inflation, but it hasn’t been for a long time.