When it comes to the economy, it's like riding a roller coaster - thrilling ups and stomach-dropping downs all at once! Right now, interest rates are sky high, which is a bummer if you're borrowing but a jackpot for your savings - cha-ching!
Here are Five Fast Facts on picking the best savings accounts right now:
- 🔍 Some Perspective - The Fed raised interest rates repeatedly over the past few months to combat inflation, and they are still at their highest level (5%) in a decade. If you have $10k in a savings account, the difference between the current rate and the rate a couple years ago could be around $500 extra per year. Free money!
- 🏦💻 Brick Vs Click - The huge banks with hundreds or thousands of brick and mortar locations are often the most convenient because they’re just down the street, but all those physical locations means a lot of overhead that they’ve gotta pay for. Thus they tend to have more fees or service charges. Fully online banks have much lower overhead, but can be harder to deal with if problems come up because you can’t sit down across a desk from someone to get help. It’s much harder to ignore you if you’re not sitting there staring at them, you know?
- 📈 Flying High - Deposit Accounts tracks almost 300k rates at over 11k banks across the country. According to them, the highest annual percentage yield (APY) at the moment is 5.5% at Poppy Bank. I bet they’re poppy-ing some champagne about that! (See what we did there?)
- 🥇 Best In Show - Just having a high interest rate is great, but there are other factors to consider. Convenience, customer service, and a lack of fees, for example. Capital One's 360 Performance Savings account is the golden ticket, offering a sweet 4.35% rate with no hidden charges. Plus, they've got branches for those who still enjoy face-to-face chats, and enough ATMs to make you feel like a VIP.
- 👍 Roll The Dice (Smartly) - Don't judge a bank by its name - there are plenty of online gems waiting to treat you right. Just double-check they're FDIC-approved and have reviews shinier than a new penny, and you're good to go!
🔥Bottom line: Now is a great time to put some money into a savings account. The interest rates can (and will) change frequently as the market bounces up and down, but the more you can sock away during these times of high interest, the more you’ll have later when you need it.
Have you put money into a high yield savings account lately?
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