Got Cash to Stash? Compare What Top-Earning Bank Accounts, CDs and Treasurys Pay Today

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The Many Places You Can Put Cash to Earn a Return

When it comes to putting your money somewhere it can earn a solid interest rate, you have a lot of options. In general, your choices come in three categories: bank and credit union products, brokerage and robo-advisor options, and U.S. Treasury bills, notes, and bonds. You can go with just one, or can mix-and-match to fit your needs.

Bank and Credit Union Options

Savings Accounts

The most basic option is a bank or credit union savings account, which lets you add and withdraw money as you please. But don’t just assume your primary bank pays a competitive rate—some banks pay virtually zero interest.

Shop around: Our daily ranking of the best high-yield savings accounts gives you 15 options that pay from 4.45% to 4.75% APY. Note, however, that savings account rates can change at any time.

Money Market Accounts

A money market account is essentially a savings account that adds the ability to write paper checks. If this is a useful feature to you, shop our list of the best money market accounts.

If you don’t need paper check-writing, choose whichever account type—money market or savings—pays the better rate. Again, be aware that money market rates are variable, so they can be lowered below other recently advertised raters without warning.

Certificates of Deposit

A certificate of deposit is a bank or credit union product with a fixed interest rate, promising you a guaranteed return for a set period of time. Generally ranging between 3 months and 5 years, CDs offer a predictable return, with a rate that cannot be changed.

But beware that it’s a commitment with teeth: Your earnings will be dinged with an early withdrawal penalty if you cash in before maturity. Our daily ranking of the best nationwide CDs currently includes options paying up to 5.50%.

Brokerage and Robo-Advisor Options

Money Market Funds

Unlike a money market account at a bank, money market funds are cash-invested mutual funds offered by brokerage and robo-advisor firms. Their yields can fluctuate on a daily basis.

Cash Management Accounts

For uninvested cash held at a brokerage or robo-advisor, you can have the funds “swept” into a cash management account, where it will earn a stated return. Unlike money market funds, cash management accounts offer a specific interest rate, although the brokerage or robo-advisor can adjust that rate whenver it likes.

U.S. Treasury Options

Treasury Bills, Notes, and Bonds

The U.S. Treasury offers a wide array of short and long-term bond instruments. The shortest duration are Treasury bills, which range from 4 weeks to 52 weeks, while Treasury notes are bonds with a maturity of 2 to 5 years. The longest-term option is a Treasury bond, which has a 20- to 30-year maturity.

You can buy T bills, notes, and bonds directly from TreasuryDirect, or you can buy and sell them on the secondary market at brokerages and banks. Selling a Treasury product allows you to exit before the bond matures. However, you may pay a fee or commission for secondary market purchases and sales, while buying and redeeming at TreasuryDirect comes with no fees.

You can also buy a Treasury ETF, which trades on the market like a stock. Treasury ETFs have advantages, but also limitations, which you can read about here.

I Bonds

U.S. Treasury I bonds are a type of bond with a rate that adjusts every six months to align with inflation trends. You can redeem an I bond anytime after one year, or hold it for as long as 30 years. Every six months you own the bond, your rate will change.

Today’s Rates On All the Options

To help you choose which cash instruments—or combination of instruments—are right for you, we’ve laid out all of today’s rates below, current as of Jan. 10, 2025.

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, read our full methodology.