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Fed Moves Are Pushing Rates Lower—But They're Still Very High

Last week, the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Federal Reserve lowered its federal funds rate by a quarter percentage point, after reducing it a bolder half point in September. As a r🌟esult, rates on many savings and CD accou𝓡nts have been drifting lower.

Fortunately, rates surged so high in 2023 and 2024 that even the current softening leaves us with savings and CD rates that are still historically very attractive. Instead of top 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:annual percentage yields (APYs) in the 0.50% to 1.50% range, as we saw in early 2022, you can now ea🌞sily earn returns of 4.00% to 5.50% APY. Four easy ways to do that are:

1. A top-paying 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:high-yield savings account
2. A short-term 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:certificate of deposit (CD)
3. Longer, multi-year CDs
4. A promotional offer on high-yield savings account

As an added bonus, all four of these are essentially risk-free options for your money, with no need to worry if your investment will go up or down.

Option #1. High-Yield Savings Accounts Keep Cꦬash Ha💛ndy

One of the easiest ways to earn a great return on your cash is to dump it into one of the country's best high-yield savings accounts. We rank the highest-paying options every business day, and the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:top rate is currently 5.50% APY. Not only that, b💫ut eight more options are paying 5.00% or better.

On the downside, savings account rates are variable, meaning they offer no rate guarantee for the future. And with more Fed rate cuts possible in December and 2025, it seems all but certain that savings account rates will move progressively lower for a while. But for now, high-yield savings accounts are riding a wave.

Option #2. Sh🐲ort-T🃏erm CDs Lock Your Rate Into 2025

For savers, one of the happiest byproducts of the Fed's aggressive 2022–2023 rate-hike campaign is that it pushed banks and credit unions to dramatically raise—and keep raising—the interest rates paid on CDs. Back in October of 2023, the highest nationwide CD rate reached above 6%—a level not seen in two decades.

Today, rates on 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:the nation's best CDs are in the 5.00% to 5.50% range. But where CDs shine is that the rate you sign up for when you open a CD is yours to keep for its full term. So whether that's 3 months or 5 years—and no matter if the Fed keeps lowering interest rates—your CD's APY is fixed and guaranteed until the maturity date. This differs from a savings account🍃 rate, which can be reduced at any timꦐe.

If you like the idea of locking in one of today's high rates but don't feel you can commit your cash for too long, a short-term CD is a great bet. With 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:terms up to 1 year, today's best-paying CDs can ensure you'll still earn 5.00% or better on your sav൩ings we🏅ll into 2025.

Option #3. Longer-💞Term CDs Can Guarantee a High Rate for Years

If you can manage without some of your savings for a long while, you'll likely be even better off with a multi-year CD. Even though the top rates for terms of 18 months to 5 years are lower than for CDs lasting a year or less, these APYs in the 4.30% to 4.65% range will be guaranteed to last much longer.

That could prove very financially useful down the road since the Fed is expected to cut rates further this year and in 2025. The more rate cuts we see from the Fed, the less future savings a🐭nd CD accounts will pay. So, locking in a mid-4% return now is likely to deliver dividends well into the future.

Option #4. A Special Promo Lets You Earn 13%+ for Two Months

New this week is a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:promot🥂ional offer from Live🐲 Oak Bank, available on its Personal Savings Account. In addition to offering a reasonable—if not stellar—APY of 4.30%, Live Oak is al🌱so offering a cash bonus of $300 for anyone who opens this account, deposits at 𝓰least $20,000, and keeps that balance (or more) on deposit for 60 days.

If you meet those requirements, the cash bonus added to the interest you'd earn over two months would equate to a 13.3% APY for that short period. Granted, your rate will go down to 4.30% (or whatever Live Oak's rate is at the time) after the two-month period. But you could always move your cash elsewhere after earning the bonus.

O✨f course, you're not limited to keeping just $20,000💟 in the account. Even on a $50,000 deposit, your return would far surpass the alternative savings account options that pay 5% rates. But as the table below shows, you can earn the most bang for your buck with a $20,000 balance.

How We Find the Best Savings and CD Rates

Every business day, Investopedia tracks the rate data of more than 200 banks and credit unions that offer CDs and savings accounts to customers nationwide and determines daily rankings of the top-paying accounts. To qualify for our lists, the institution must be federally insured (FDIC for banks, NCUA for credit unions), and the account's minimum initial deposit must not exceed $25,000. It also cannot specify a maximum deposit amount that's below $5,000.

Banks must be available in at least 40 states to qualify as nationally available. And while some credit unions require you to donate to a specific charity or association to become a member if you don't meet other eligibility criteria (e.g., you don't live in a certain area or work in a certain kind of job), we exclude credit unions whose donation requirement is $40 or more. For more about how we choose the best rates, 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:read our full methodology.