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You Can Still Earn Above 5% on 🍷Your Savings—No Matter Your Balanc🅰e

Thanks to the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Federal Reserve's aggressive rate-hike campaign of 2022–2023—which aimed to bring down decades-high 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:inflation—rates oౠn high-yield savings accounts surged to their highest level in more than 20 years. Reaching a peak of 5.55% in April, the leading nationwide rate is still near that, at 5.50% APY.

However, not all accounts are created equal, even if they have a similar 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:annual percentage yield (APY). Some require a larger opening deposit than you may be able to muster. Others may have low open🃏ing requirements but then stipulate a high ongoing balance if you want to earn the top rate or avoid fees.

That's what makes the 11 accounts below the best of the best for the average saver. Not only do they pay nation-leading rates—ranging from 5.05% to 5.50%—but they also require little or no money for the opening deposit or an ongoing balance, making their great rates accessible to most people.

Have at Least ꦦ$1,000? You Have Additional Options—Including 5.50% with an Unusual Rate Guarante🦹e

If you have more than $100 you can keep on deposit, you'll find even more top-rate options in our daily rankꩲing of the best high-yield savi😼ngs accounts. Some of these require just $500, while others may stipu🦹late a pricey $25,000 minimum. Depending on your finan🌳cial situation, some of these may be good additional options to consider.

Of particular note right now, if you can keep at least $1,000 in your account, is 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Poppy Bank, which is a co-leader paying the top nationw⛄ide rate of 5.50% APY. Though Pibank offers that rate with no minimum deposit or ongoing balance, anyone with at least $1,000 to keep in savings might prefer Poppy's 5.50% offer. That's because Poppy's account currently comes with a rare feature: a 90-day rate guarantee.

Savings accounts, by definition, are variable-rate accounts, meaning the bank or credit union can change your interest rate anytime it wants—and without warning. So it's an unusual opportunity, especially in light of yesterday's Fed rate cut and another one possible in early November, to be able to lock in your high APY for any amount of time.

Where Are Savings Account Rates Headed?

Yesterday's large Fed rate cut will certainly have a significant impact on savings account rates. Banks and 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:credit unions knew a rate reduction would be coming before it was officially announced, but they were no doubt waiting to see the magnitude of the cut before making their next rate decision. Now that the news is in, with a cut of 0.50 percentage points, we expect the best savings account rates to start coming down roughly by that increment🦹.

Unfortunately for savers, the Fed is expected to continue cutting rates. Though forecasts can change as new economic data becomes available, the Fed committee's predictions as of yesterday are that another half-point in cuts will be made across the November and December meetings. Then, in 2025, another full percentage point in cuts is forecasted.

Any additional rate cut the Fed announces will put more downward pressure on savings account rates. But it's good to keep some perspective here. Even if the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:best savings account rate comes down from today's 5.50% to maybe 4.50% by the end of the year or even 3.50% by the end of 2025, these are still historically high returns. You can see this easily in the graph below, which shows that back in 2022, before the Fed's rate-hike campaign, the rate of the highest-paying nationwide savings account w꧟as a meager 0.70% APY.

To Lock in ꦚa Rate for Mo🍌nths or Years, Consider a Top CD

If you can commit to not touching a portion of your savings for months or years, it's a smart time to open one of the nation's best 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:certificates of deposit (CDs)—before rates begin falling quickly. While APYs on new CDs will drift lower with the fed funds rate, a CD you open now will have a guaranteed return that's yoꦜurs to keep until the CD matures.

With 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:our daily ranking of the ♌best CD rates, you can lock in a rate of 5.15% to 5.25% with the best 6-month CDs or 5.00% to 5.15% with a top 1-year CD. If you can commit some of your savings even longer, the longest CD term paying at least 5.00% is currently 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:15 months, which would guarantee your rate until nearly Christmas of next year.

The top rates on CD terms of 2 to 5 years are meanwhile in the mid- to upper-4% range, and they can guarantee your rate until at least 2026 or as long as 2029.

If you decide you want to open a CD, time is of the essence! Like savings accounts, CD rates will take a significant hit from the recent Fed announcement—as well as expected future rate cuts. So it's best to lock in a guaranteed CD rate as soon as you can.

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.