High Yield
Guide
What a high-yield savings account can do for you
Put a high-yield savings account to work for your cash: understand the yield, check the terms, and decide when a better rate is worth pursuing.
By Harlan Landes Originally publishedHigh Yield / Guides & tools
Make your next savings decision a clearer one.
Start with the basics, protect your accounts and put your savings plan into practice. Choose the topic that fits your next decision.
Getting started
Understand your account choices and what to check before you open one.
Guide
Checking, savings or a money market account?
Choose checking, savings and money market accounts by the work each will do, then build a cash flow that remains usable when the month is uneven.
By Harlan Landes Originally published
Guide
Money market deposit accounts versus savings accounts
Compare savings and money market deposit accounts on the terms that affect your balance, and keep investment funds out of a bank-deposit comparison.
By Harlan Landes Originally published
Guide
Savings accounts and certificates of deposit serve different jobs
Choose between accessible savings and a CD commitment by matching the money to its use date, comparing the extra interest and planning the exit.
By Harlan Landes Originally published
Guide
What to check before opening a savings account
Evaluate a savings account before funding it: verify the bank, price the terms at your balance, test access and check the first statement.
By Harlan Landes Originally publishedAccount safety
Understand deposit protection, online access and shared ownership.
Guide
What happens if your bank fails?
Work out how deposit insurance applies to your savings, then prepare for the practical steps that follow a bank failure or an access problem.
By Harlan Landes Originally publishedGuide
How to use online banking more safely
Make safer banking a repeatable routine: protect sign-in and recovery, verify transfers independently, and respond promptly to unfamiliar activity.
By Harlan Landes Originally publishedGuide
Joint savings accounts: access, ownership and deposit insurance
Separate access to shared savings from legal ownership and deposit-insurance coverage, then establish account rules and records before combining money.
By Harlan Landes Originally publishedManaging money
Build a savings routine, plan for emergencies and keep track of account costs and access.
Guide
How much emergency savings do you need, and where should it go?
Choose an emergency-fund target around essential expenses and likely disruptions, build it in manageable stages, and keep access reliable when the money is needed.
By Harlan Landes Originally publishedGuide
Build a savings habit you can keep
Make saving a routine that fits your income and obligations, then use contributions, access and rates to improve the result.
By Harlan Landes Originally publishedGuide
How many bank accounts do you need?
Build an account setup you can explain and maintain, with clear roles for bills, reserves, goals and worthwhile rate opportunities.
By Harlan Landes Originally publishedGuide
Overdraft protection: what you agree to and how to avoid fees
Understand overdraft enrollment, linked savings transfers and the transactions that can still create fees, then choose an account setup you can manage.
By Harlan Landes Originally publishedGuide
Bank account fees: how to compare the full cost
Compare the fees your own banking habits can trigger, including minimum-balance conditions, ATMs, transfers and the cost of tying up money to avoid a charge.
By Harlan Landes Originally published
Guide
Savings withdrawal limits: what changed and what to check
Check the savings withdrawal rules that affect your account today, including transaction counts, dollar limits, holds and the route to your spending money.
By Harlan Landes Originally publishedGuide
Should you save or pay off credit card debt?
Compare the cost of card debt with savings earnings while protecting essential payments and an accessible cash reserve. Savings yield alone is not a debt payoff plan.
By Harlan Landes Originally publishedGuide
Dormant bank accounts and unclaimed money: a US saver’s guide
Keep old accounts from being forgotten, distinguish inactivity from unclaimed property, and follow official US channels to investigate missing funds.
By Harlan Landes Originally publishedOptimizing returns
Look beyond the headline APY and weigh the benefit of a rate change, bonus or bank move.
Guide
How compounding affects savings
Understand how compounding and APY affect your money, then build projections that account for contributions, rate changes, fees, taxes and inflation.
By Harlan Landes Originally published
Guide
Tiered savings APYs: what your balance will really earn
Distinguish rates applied to your whole balance from rates applied to separate portions, then compare the dollars earned at the amount you expect to keep.
By Harlan Landes Originally publishedGuide
Are bank account bonuses and promotional rates worth it?
Evaluate cash bonuses, referral incentives and promotional savings rates by their conditions, likely costs and value at your balance, without relying on expired offers.
By Harlan Landes Originally publishedGuide
Your savings rate fell. Is switching banks worth it?
Turn an APY difference into a realistic dollar estimate, then weigh account conditions, taxes, access and the work of moving before switching banks.
By Harlan Landes Originally publishedGuide
Move savings to another bank: a transfer and closure checklist
Move savings in a deliberate sequence: verify the destination, test transfers, protect upcoming payments, and confirm any closure of the old account.
By Harlan Landes Originally publishedGuide
Savings interest and Form 1099-INT: the basics
Understand ordinary savings-interest reporting, reconcile Form 1099-INT with your records, and recognize when joint ownership or other complications call for tax help.
By Harlan Landes Originally publishedMore savings guides
Guide
Your app says “FDIC insured.” What does that actually protect?
An app's claim that money is FDIC-insured can conceal a substantial difference between an insured bank deposit and a balance managed through a nonbank intermediary.
By Harlan Landes Originally publishedGuide
Why can’t I withdraw my money? Holds, freezes and next steps
A balance displayed in an account does not always equal money available to withdraw.
By Harlan Landes Originally publishedGuide
Bank savings versus brokerage cash: check the protection and access
Brokerage cash can mean an uninvested balance, a bank sweep deposit or shares in a money market mutual fund.
By Harlan Landes Originally publishedGuide
Build a CD ladder around the dates you need your money
A CD ladder divides money among certificates with different maturity dates.
By Harlan Landes Originally publishedGuide
Denied a bank account? Understand the report and your options
A denied account application requires a diagnosis before another application.
By Harlan Landes Originally publishedGuide
Bank or credit union: compare accounts, access and insurance
Compare a bank and a credit union at two levels: the institution that holds the money and the specific account being offered.
By Harlan Landes Originally publishedGuide
Prepaid card or bank account: understand where the money sits
A prepaid card, a debit card and a bank deposit account can all support everyday payments, but they do not necessarily hold money in the same way.
By Harlan Landes Originally publishedGuide
Save for a house down payment without risking the closing money
A house savings target needs to cover more than the down payment.
By Harlan Landes Originally publishedGuide
Where to keep an inheritance while you make a plan
An inheritance can create an immediate cash-management problem before it creates a long-term investment decision.
By Harlan Landes Originally publishedGuide
Choose a budgeting tool without giving up control of your accounts
A budgeting tool should make committed money, upcoming bills and available cash easier to understand.
By Harlan Landes Originally publishedGuide
Reduce recurring bills and move the savings into your account
Recurring bills reduce the amount available to save before a savings transfer is even considered.
By Harlan Landes Originally publishedGuide
Cooking at home versus takeout: compare your real food costs
Cooking at home can lower food spending, but the saving depends on the meals that actually get eaten.
By Harlan Landes Originally publishedPut the numbers to work
Give your savings a little perspective.
Explore a constant-rate projection, a monthly savings goal or a possible rate switch. Your inputs stay in this calculation; they are not saved.