Dip Your Toes into Personal Finance with HYSAs
The FOMO of watching your friends make a killing on bitcoin…
Or discussing multiple streams of passive dividend income…
Or hearing whispered secrets about the latest hot pot stock that’ll have you retiring at 30…
Well, it can make anybody a little jealous, if not outright depressed.
After all, no one wants to work forever, living paycheck to paycheck. Rich people don’t even work for money — they work for assets.
And there are only so many hours in the day for your job, your side hustle, your family, friends, responsibilities, and…
Yourself. Don’t forget about that one.
Burning the candle at both ends may temporarily add to your bottom line. But you’re working hard, not smart.
And since you hear so much in the news about recessions, crashes, corrections, bear markets, post-pandemic economies…
You stockpile your hard-earned cash into low-interest bank traps: savings accounts.
Why Is That a Scam?
On average, most households have almost $9,000 in savings. Liquid cash.
That number can swing pendulously depending on your age group, couple status, and whether or not you have kids. If you’re a millennial, for example, several studies have found that 60% don’t have the cash to cover a $1,000 emergency.
According to the FDIC, the average earned interest in savings accounts is 0.04%. Less than 0.1%.
If you have $9,000 in your savings account, you’d be making roughly $3 per year at a standard brick and mortar bank.
Your money is sitting in an account that earns practically nothing. Up against almost any other kind of investment — CDs, FDs, stocks, bonds, robo-investors, crypto, ETFs, etc.
You’re dodging the risk, but you’re not even keeping up with inflation. It’s literally throwing your savings away slowly.
There is a way to straddle both worlds — protect yourself from risk and encourage your money to grow.
Let’s step gingerly into the world of high-yield savings accounts.
What makes HYSA rates possible is that these banks are different from traditional institutional banks — they’re online. You see, online banks have no overhead. So they’ve got more room to help you save…
Here are the top three options for growing your wealth safely in a savings account:
Chime
This online fintech (financial technology) company is FDIC insured up to $250,000 (an absolute must) and has been around since 2013. It’s offering a 0.50% APY — obviously, more than the national average.
There are no monthly service, overdraft, minimum balance, or other fees. The company even has a Credit Builder Card, which helps users’ credit scores increase an average of 30 points in under six months by making regular monthly payments.
Plus, there’s no minimum account balance. No matter what you have in your savings account, you’ll earn 0.50% in interest. You can use the company’s round-up and Save When You Get Paid features to help grow your savings as well!
Click here for more.
Marcus by Goldman Sachs
You know Goldman Sachs — and if you don’t know anything more about the company, you probably know that it has a reputation for being somewhat exclusionary. Thus was Marcus born.
Its APY rate is 4x the national average, ringing in at 0.50% — just like Chime. There are no fees and no minimum deposits. Transfers from other banks are completed on the same day you request them. Its customer service team is available 7 days a week.
Unlike the other two banks, Marcus is backed by the financial and intellectual power of an industry giant. Maybe that makes you feel better. Maybe it doesn’t!
Vio Bank
Another online-only FDIC insured bank, they’re the no fuss, no muss of this list. It’s got no ATMs, physical branches, or checking accounts. This bank is only focused on savings. (That can be a con for some people — no checks, no cards. If you want to use the money in this account, you’ll have to transfer it to another linked checking account at a different bank.)
Vio’s website is easy to use. It requires $100 to open an account, and doesn’t change any maintenance fees, unless your account has been open for a year with no activity, and then you’ll be charged $5. The best part? Its APY is 0.66%. Just for your money sitting in an account.
Get started here!
Just make sure when you’re on the hunt: ONLY FDIC insured banks. Read a lot of reviews! A simple Google search should shake out skeletons in their closets or hidden fees.
It’s a brand new day — don’t let your old bank trundle along at 0.04%. Take small steps towards financial independence.
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