Update: Rate increased 1/3/19. CIT Bank raised the rate on their Savings Builder account to 2.45% APY. That’s a solid rate on liquid savings as long as you set up a $100 monthly auto-deposit so you have nothing to remember. Details and screenshots on how to do that in my original review below. (You could also keep $25,000 there.)

CIT Bank has a new high-yield savings account called the Savings Builder Account. This is a unique savings account with two ways to qualify for their highest interest rate tier of 2.45% APY (as of 1/3/19). You need ONE of the following in each Evaluation Period:

• Maintain at least one single monthly deposit of $100+, OR
• Maintain a balance of $25,000+.

I noticed that this rate is currently higher than that of their 11-month No Penalty CD, although that rate can never go down during that 11 months.

There is a $100 minimum to open the account, and everyone earns the top tier rate for the first monthly “Evaluation Period” (see below). Then, if you meet one of the requirements listed above during the first Evaluation Period, you’ll earn the top rate (2.45% APY as of 1/3/19) for the next Evaluation Period. If you don’t meet a least one of the requirements, you will receive the base interest rate during the next Evaluation Period (1.14% APY as of 1/3/19). They will send you an e-mail reminder if you haven’t made the $100 deposit requirement by mid-month.

There are no minimum balance fees, no monthly service fees, no inactivity fee. You just get the lower rate. Interest is compounded daily.

Evaluation Period vs. Calendar Month. I guess they aren’t using calendar months since banks don’t like to do anything on the weekends, so instead it’s called an “Evaluation Period”. The first Evaluation Day will occur at the end of the first full month after account opening. Your monthly “Evaluation Day” is the fourth business day prior to the end of a month. The “Evaluation Period” begins the day after an Evaluation Day and ends at 4pm PT on the next month’s Evaluation Day.

You can set up an automatic monthly transfer from your checking account to this account for $100 and satisfy the requirement on auto-pilot. I don’t like having to jump through hoops like debit card purchases, but at least this one I could automate instead of having to remember to do something every month. Log into your account, click on “External Transfer” and then “set up recurring transfers”. You can then pick your external account (you may need to add it) and choose a “Monthly” frequency:

I would pick a day that is not near the end of the month. (I picked the 10th.) Deposits can be made via online funds transfer (ACH), mobile check deposit via app, incoming wire (no fee), or by mailing a check. You can still make withdrawals out of the account at any time without affecting the rate.

I also noticed that outgoing wires are free with an average daily balance of $25,000+. Otherwise, the fee is $10 per wire. This may be helpful for people who have high balances but like the ability to instantly deploy their money elsewhere as needed.

Existing CIT Bank customers can quickly open a new account by clicking on “Open an account” here, then “I have a CIT Bank account”, and then logging in with your password. The entire opening process can be done online, and you can fund with another CIT Bank account or an external account.

Bottom line. The new CIT Bank Savings Builder Account has two different ways to qualify for the top rate. If you either make a $100+ single deposit every month, OR maintain a $25,000 balance every month, you get 2.45% APY as of 1/3/19. In my opinion, it is easiest to set up a $100 automated recurring deposit every month to make sure you qualify for the top rate. You can still make withdrawals out of the account at any time without affecting the rate.

Updated 2018. Navy Federal Credit Union (membership now limited primarily to those with military affiliation) announced their year-end specials.

• 40-month IRA Certificate at 3.75% APY with add-ons. Open with $50 minimum. Make additional deposits anytime during those 40 months (up to $150,000 max).
• $100 Bonus for first-time IRAs at NavyFed. Offer only available to members who open their first IRA (at NavyFed) and deposit a minimum of $100 in the new IRA account no later than 45 days after account opening.

Thanks to reader CA for the heads up. In case you were curious, the December 2017 specials were a 15-month at 2.25% APY and a 32-month at 2.75% APY. The December 2016 specials were a 17-month at 2.00% APY and a $150 bonus for new IRAs.

The “add-on” feature is useful for IRAs as it lets you deposit additional funds at any time and get the same rate. Since this is combined with a very low minimum of $50, there is very little risk. Open now while you can with $50. If the rate is good later on when you have more funds available (perhaps another CD matures or a new year allows more contributions), then add more money. Otherwise, just leave it alone and invest your money elsewhere.

Membership. The membership eligibility for NavyFed includes Active Duty members of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard, members of the Army and Air National Guard, Delayed Entry Program (DEP), DoD Officer Candidate/ROTC, DoD Reservists, and Veterans, retirees and annuitants. There was previously a quiet way for the general public to join, but that window has since been closed. The good news is that NavyFed now accepts all military veterans.

Navy Federal Credit Union has solid bank and loan products, including checking accounts with ATM rebates, competitive mortgage rates, and limited-time 0% balance transfer promotions. Readers have commented on their excellent customer service and the fact that they often keep and service the mortgages and other loans they originate.

Rates updated as of 11/20/18. Ally Bank raised the rate on their 11-month No Penalty CD. These have been an interesting new product in this rising rate environment. If you have older No-Penalty CDs, you may want to take advantage of this higher rate. Here are the new interest rates for the No Penalty CD under their tiered structure:

• 2.25% APY at $25,000 minimum opening deposit
• 2.10% APY at $5,000 minimum deposit
• 1.80% APY at no minimum deposit.

The 11-month No Penalty CD is unique in that while the rate is locked in at deposit, you can still withdraw your principal and interest without penalty at any time (well, you must wait at least 6 days from the deposit date). In other words, your interest rate can never go down, but you can still jump ship if rates rise or if there is a better promo elsewhere.

For comparison, the Ally Online Savings account is currently at 2.00% APY for all balances. The interest rate on the savings account can go up or down, although in this current rising rate environment that seems unlikely. The Ally 12-month CD is at 2.65% APY, which is fixed but if you withdraw early there is a penalty of 60 days of interest.

In addition, Marcus Bank has a 13-month No Penalty CD at 2.15% APY with a $500 minimum deposit. CIT Bank has a 11-Month No Penalty CD at 2.05% APY with a $1,000 minimum deposit. If you have lower balances, one of these may be a better fit.

If you recently opened one of these, remember that Ally Bank offers a “Ten Day Best Rate Guarantee”:

When you fund your CD within 10 days of your open date, you’ll get the best rate we offer for your term and balance tier if our rate goes up within that time. The Ally Ten Day Best Rate Guarantee also applies at renewal.

If you have an existing No Penalty CD past the 10-day rate guarantee, this means you may consider closing it and then opening up a new one at a higher rate. You will have to withdraw everything at once – there are no partial withdrawals allowed on this type of CD. If you have an Ally savings or checking account, you can close the old CD, see the deposit in your savings/checking, and open up a new CD all in minutes online. (Note that savings accounts are limited to 6 withdrawals per month, so use your checking if possible.) You will be extending the term out another 11 months, but since you can always close it at any time it isn’t much of a concern.

Here’s a screenshot of my withdrawal showing no penalty and instant availability when withdrawn directly into an Ally account:

You can use my Ultimate Rate-Chaser Calculator to get an idea of how much additional interest you’d earn if you switched over.

Ally is my primary “hub” bank, despite not being at the tippy-top of all rates. I like Ally because their rates are generally competitive across both savings and CD products and they offer an easy-to-use website, Live Chat customer service, easy bank account linking, and 1-day bank transfers in many cases. I then proceed to open additional bank CDs as temporary “spokes” when external rates are significantly higher.

Bottom line. The Ally No Penalty CD is unique in that you are always able to move out to a higher rate, but you’ll never get a lower one. This means you can even break the No Penalty CD simply to get another No Penalty CD if/when the rate rises again.

(Update: “Due to the tremendous success of our certificate promotion, we have concluded the special rates that were being offered as of the end of business on Friday, November 9th.” Reader Ryan adds that as long as you started the application process before the end of business on Friday, they will let you complete the process but you must fund by the next Friday.)

Garden Savings Federal Credit Union has a limited-time certificate special on their 4-Year Share Certificate at 4.08% APY. They also have a 2-Year certficiate at 3.04% APY. NCUA-insured. Here are the highlights:

• $500 minimum deposit.
• Interest paid monthly.
• Penalty for early withdrawal is 180 days of dividends.
• Membership with at least $5 deposited in a Share Savings account required.

According to a myFICO forum post from 2016, the membership application is a soft credit pull. This is not a guarantee, of course. Please share your own experience if you apply.

If you have the big bucks, Garden Savings FCU has the usual NCUA-insurance up to $250,000, but also another $250,000 in additional deposit insurance through Excess Share Insurance.

Credit union membership eligibility. You are eligible for membership if you live, work, worship, attend school, volunteer or regularly conduct business in Newark, Elizabeth, or Jersey City. Select employer groups are also eligible. In addition, anyone can join by being a member of the American Consumer Council (ACC), a non-profit organization dedicated to consumer education, advocacy and financial literacy. The cost is a one-time $8, although there is a promo code “consumer” that has worked to get the membership fee waived. You can make additional donations as you wish, but it is not required. They will send you an e-mail shortly with your ACC membership number. I’ve joined a couple of credit unions with my ACC membership.

Good deal? 4.08% APY is the best rate that I know of for a 4-year CD, with the current competitive range for a 4-year CD being around 3% to 3.35% APY. The closest deal from my Best Cash Rates November 2018 post was a 5-year CD at 3.63% APY that required a $60,000 deposit. A 5-year Treasury bond currently yields about 3.05% and is exempt from state and local income taxes. The 180-day early withdrawal penalty is on the reasonable side.

I think the deal is good enough that it won’t last very long. This credit union is not tiny, but it isn’t huge either. It is quite possible that there will be enough new applications to overwhelm their staff (and deposit needs). If you’re interested, I would act quickly as these deals can end abruptly. I’d be ready to send in additional paperwork (like a copy of your driver’s license) if requested to expedite things.

Here’s my monthly roundup of the best interest rates on cash for November 2018, roughly sorted from shortest to longest maturities. Check out my Ultimate Rate-Chaser Calculator to get an idea of how much extra interest you’d earn if you are moving money between accounts. Rates listed are available to everyone nationwide. Rates checked as of 11/5/18.

High-yield savings accounts
While the huge megabanks like to get away with 0.01% APY, getting higher rates is as easy as transferring money electronically from your checking account to an online savings account. The interest rates on savings accounts can drop at any time, so I prioritize banks with a history of competitive rates. Some banks will bait you and then lower the rates in the hopes that you are too lazy to leave.

• MemoryBank and Redneck Bank offer 2.25% APY with no minimum balance (Redneck has $50k maximum balance). Northpointe Bank offers 2.30% APY with a higher $25,000+ minimum, guaranteed for 12 months. If you have existing accounts at CIT Bank, you may wish to move some money over to their new Savings Builder account at 2.15% APY. There was a bank (EBSB Direct) that offered 2.50% APY for a bit last month, but has since pulled the account information completely from their website. I hope they keep the rate high for existing accountholders. There are several other established high-yield savings accounts at 1.80% APY and up.
• My primary “hub” bank account is the Ally Bank Savings + Checking combo due to their history of competitive rates, 1-day external bank transfers, and overall ease of use. The free overdraft transfers from savings allows to me to keep my checking balance at a minimum. Ally Savings is currently at 1.90% APY. From here, I open “spoke” accounts and CDs from other banks to lock in higher rates. (Ally Bank also recently had a good promotion that offered a 1% bonus on new deposits held for 3 months, but enrollment is now closed.)

Short-term guaranteed rates (1 year and under)
I am often asked what to do with a big wad of cash that you’re waiting to deploy shortly (just sold your house, just sold your business, legal settlement, inheritance). My usual advice is to keep things simple. If not a savings account, then put it in a flexible short-term CD under the FDIC limits until you have a plan.

• No-Penalty CDs offer a locked-in rate with no early withdrawal penalty. That means your interest rate can never go down, but you can still take out your money (once) if you want to use it elsewhere. The Marcus 13-month No Penalty CD is at 2.15% APY with a $500 minimum deposit. Ally Bank 11-month No Penalty CD is at 2.10% APY ($25k minimum) and the CIT Bank 11-Month No-Penalty CD is at 2.05% APY ($1,000 minimum). The lack of early withdrawal penalty means that your interest rate can never go down for 11 months, but you keep full liquidity. You can open multiple CDs in smaller $1,000 increments to get even more flexibility.
• VirtualBank has a 1-year CD at 2.75% APY ($10,000 minimum) with an early withdrawal penalty of 1% of principal.

Money market mutual funds + Ultra-short bond ETFs
If you like to keep cash in a brokerage account, you should know that money market and short-term Treasury rates have been rising. The following money market and ultra-short bond funds are not FDIC-insured, but may be a good option if you have idle cash and cheap/free commissions.

• Vanguard Prime Money Market Fund currently pays an 2.21% SEC yield. The default sweep option is the Vanguard Federal Money Market Fund, which has an SEC yield of 2.10%. You can manually move the money over to Prime if you meet the $3,000 minimum investment.
• Vanguard Ultra-Short-Term Bond Fund currently pays 2.58% SEC Yield ($3,000 min) and 2.68% SEC Yield ($50,000 min). The average duration is ~1 year, so there is a little more interest rate sensitivity.
• The PIMCO Enhanced Short Maturity Active Bond ETF (MINT) has a 2.55% SEC yield and the iShares Short Maturity Bond ETF (NEAR) has a 2.64% SEC yield while holding a portfolio of investment-grade bonds with an average duration of ~6 months.

Treasury Bills and Ultra-short Treasury ETFs
Another option is to buy individual Treasury bills which come in a variety of maturities from 4-weeks to 52-weeks. You can also invest in ETFs that hold a rotating basket of short-term Treasury Bills for you, while charging a small management fee for doing so. T-Bill interest is exempt from state and local income taxes.

• You can buy individual Treasury Bills at certain brokerage accounts with a bond desk like Vanguard and Fidelity, or individuals can buy them directly at TreasuryDirect.gov. Here is my post on building your own T-Bill ladder. Here are the current Treasury Bill rates. As of 11/2/18, a 4-week T-Bill had the equivalent of 2.18% annualized interest and a 52-week T-Bill had the equivalent of 2.69% annualized interest.
• The Goldman Sachs Access Treasury 0-1 Year ETF (GBIL) has a 2.05% SEC yield and the SPDR Bloomberg Barclays 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (BIL) has a 1.97% SEC yield. GBIL appears to have a slightly longer average maturity than BIL.

US Savings Bonds
Series I Savings Bonds offer rates that are linked to inflation and backed by the US government. You must hold them for at least a year. There are annual purchase limits. If you redeem them within 5 years there is a penalty of the last 3 months of interest.

• “I Bonds” bought between November 2018 and April 2018 will earn a 2.82% rate for the first six months. The rate of the subsequent 6-month period will be based on inflation again. More info here.
• In mid-April 2019, the CPI will be announced and you will have a short period where you will have a very close estimate of the rate for the next 12 months. I will have another post up at that time.

Prepaid Cards with Attached Savings Accounts
A small subset of prepaid debit cards have an “attached” FDIC-insured savings account with exceptionally high interest rates. The negatives are that balances are capped, and there are many fees that you must be careful to avoid (lest they eat up your interest). Some folks don’t mind the extra work and attention required, while others do. There is a long list of previous offers that have already disappeared with little notice.

• The only notable card left in this category is Mango Money at 6% APY on up to $5,000, but there are many hoops to jump through. There is a $3 monthly fee and you need to maintain a minimum $800 net direct deposit each month. This means you can’t direct deposit $800 and also take out $800 via online transfer. Checks and ATM withdrawals have additional fees. This means you have to spend the money via the Visa debit card (and miss out on flat 2% cash back on all purchases).

Rewards checking accounts
These unique checking accounts pay above-average interest rates, but with unique risks. You have to jump through certain hoops, and if you make a mistake you won’t earn any interest for that month. Some folks don’t mind the extra work and attention required, while others do. Rates can also drop to near-zero quickly, leaving a “bait-and-switch” feeling. That’s just how it goes with these types of accounts.

• Consumers Credit Union offers 3.09% to 5.09% APY on up to a $10k balance depending on your qualifying activity. The highest tier requires their credit card in addition to their debit card (other credit cards offer $500+ in sign-up bonuses). Keep your 12 debit purchases just above the $100 requirement, as for every $500 in monthly purchases you may be losing out on 2% cash back elsewhere (or $10 a month after-tax). Find a local rewards checking account at DepositAccounts.
• If you’re looking for a non-rewards high-yield checking account, MemoryBank has a checking account with no debit card requirements at 1.60% APY.

Certificates of deposit (greater than 1 year)
You might have larger balances, either because you are using CDs instead of bonds or you simply want a large cash reserves. By finding a bank CD with a reasonable early withdrawal penalty, you can enjoy higher rates but maintain access in a true emergency. Alternatively, consider building a CD ladder of different maturity lengths (ex. 1/2/3/4/5-years) such that you have access to part of the ladder each year, but your blended interest rate is higher than a savings account. When one CD matures, use that money to buy another 5-year CD.

• Mutual One Bank has a 19-month CD at 3.04% APY ($500 min). 6 month early withdrawal penalty.
• United States Senate Federal Credit Union has a 5-year Share Certificate at 3.63% APY ($60k min), 3.57% APY ($20k min), or 3.51% APY ($1k min). Note that the early withdrawal penalty is a full year of interest. Anyone can join this credit union via American Consumer Council.
• You can buy certificates of deposit via the bond desks of Vanguard and Fidelity. These “brokered CDs” offer FDIC insurance, but they don’t come with predictable fixed early withdrawal penalties. As of this writing, Vanguard is showing a 2-year non-callable CD at 3.05% APY and a 5-year non-callable CD at 3.55% APY. Watch out for higher rates from callable CDs listed by Fidelity.

Longer-term Instruments
I’d use these with caution due to increased interest rate risk, but I still track them to see the rest of the current yield curve.

• Willing to lock up your money for 10+ years? You can buy long-term certificates of deposit via the bond desks of Vanguard and Fidelity. These “brokered CDs” offer FDIC insurance, but they don’t come with predictable fixed early withdrawal penalties. As of this writing, Vanguard is showing a 10-year non-callable CD at 3.60% APY. Watch out for higher rates from callable CDs from Fidelity. Matching the overall yield curve, current CD rates do not rise much higher as you extend beyond a 5-year maturity.
• How about two decades? Series EE Savings Bonds are not indexed to inflation, but they have a guarantee that the value will double in value in 20 years, which equals a guaranteed return of 3.5% a year. However, if you don’t hold for that long, you’ll be stuck with the normal rate which is quite low (currently a sad 0.10% rate). I view this as a huge early withdrawal penalty. You could also view it as long-term bond and thus a hedge against deflation, but only if you can hold on for 20 years. As of 11/2/18, the 20-year Treasury Bond rate is now 3.37%, so this EE bond is no longer offering a huge premium.

All rates were checked as of 11/5/18.