Choosing the best savings account with the highest rates and most flexibility is essential for reaching your financial goals as soon as possible.
Whether you’re looking to build a war chest to take advantage of unexpected opportunities or just seeking a safe place to park extra cash for a rainy day, an online high-yield savings account is the best place to keep money for easy access while still earning a decent return.
But how do you know if you’re putting your money in the right place?
In response to the ongoing health crisis and economic struggles that followed, the federal reserve recently cut interest rates to zero. This is good news if you are trying to get a loan, but bad news for savers. Banks are making less profits on money they loan out, and therefore, have been forced to cut back on the interest rates they pay out to customers with savings accounts.
That being said, this page is intended to help you cut through the financial terminology and quickly identify the best savings account offering great returns and all of the features you are looking for in managing your finances online.
After working hard for your money, it should do the same for you.
Now it’s time to put it somewhere safe and watch it grow.
Gone are the days of putting money in a regular savings account at a local brick-and-mortar bank and earning next-to-nothing for your hard-earned cash (or worse yet, putting money under your mattress and earning literally nothing).
Now the best savings account options are with online banks, allowing us to earn substantially more interest on our money. Low overhead costs allow these institutions to pass a portion of these savings on to the consumer in the form of higher interest rates.
An online savings account that offers a 1.30% Annual Percentage Yield (APY) will earn you approximately $13 per year. This won’t make you rich, but it sure beats the alternative of using a regular savings account offering an average 0.06% APY, which earns about 60 cents per year.
That being said, it absolutely makes sense to transfer most if not all of your money currently held in a regular savings account over to one of the options online. Read on for things you should look out for when choosing the best savings account for you.
While it might be tempting to choose the account with the highest yield, this might not be best savings account option for all people. There are other factors you should take into account before making your selection. Here is the complete list:
The APY represents the interest percentage that the bank will pay you for holding your money, so the higher the better. However, you should also do a quick check of the opening requirements and potential fees you might incur. Good questions to ask are:
You also want to make sure that the account where you are putting your money is FDIC/NCUA insured. This means that if the bank goes under, the money in your account is backed by the Federal Government, typically up to $250,000 per depositor per bank. Most major U.S. banks are FDIC insured, but be sure to check for peace of mind.
Reminder:
The APY may change at any time and without notice.
All rates are current as of June 30, 2020.
Looking for the best customer service?
The best online tools?
Or just the highest APY?
We’ve sorted through the various high-yield savings account options out there to bring you the best options to fit your needs.
Here are some of our top picks:
Best All Around
Goldman Sachs has historically catered to high net worth clients, but they have now created a savings product that appeals to everyone with the Marcus high-yield savings account. With no minimum deposits or fees, mobile banking, electronic check deposits, and one of the highest interest rates around, Marcus has all the features you’d look for in a great high-yield savings account.
Best Savings Account for High APY
The Varo savings account gives you the opportunity to more than double the APY you earn each month, but it comes with a catch. If your account balance is under $10,000, you make at least five transactions per month on the Varo Visa Debit Card, and direct deposit at least $1,000 per month into your account, you can watch your savings grow much faster than any of the other accounts on this list. If you don’t meet the monthly requirements, don’t worry; you will still earn 1.21% APY which is higher than most accounts out there.
Best Savings Account Customer Service
Dependable American Express has been around for over 170 years. Everyone knows them for their credit cards, but they also offer great high-yield savings account with a competitive 1.15% APY. Available all day every day to answer your questions, this is a brand you can trust.
Best Online Tools
Ally offers one of the highest interest rates around. In addition, they offer top-notch online tools that allow you to organize your savings account into buckets. No need to open multiple accounts for each of your goals. Save money for everything that matters to you all in one place.
Best for Its Simplicity
The easy to set up, no minimum / no maintenance fee Barclays Online Savings Account is one of my favorites. Transfers move in and out fairly quickly, and its current interest rate is a solid 1.15%.
New! Comments
Have your say about what you just read! Leave me a comment in the box below.