The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta has come and gone which means we’re officially into the fall season. After a prolonged, hot summer, the cooler weather and shorter days are a welcome relief.
The recent increase in interest rates isn’t all bad news. There are now several places you can park your money, other than the ridiculously low rate savings accounts offered by most banks and credit unions, that will earn you significantly more interest. With minimal effort you can find online savings or money market accounts offering between 4.2% and 5.25% and still have access to your money without penalties for withdrawing your money (like CD’s).
There are several places you can go to shop high-yield savings and money market accounts. One of our favorite resources is Kiplinger Personal Finance. Their most recent information on high-yield savings accounts can be found here: https://www.kiplinger.com/personal-finance/savings-accounts/best-no-fee-high-yield-savings-rates
Another good resource is NerdWallet. Find a summary of their research on money market accounts here: https://www.nerdwallet.com/best/banking/money-market-accounts
Regardless of what decision you make about a specific savings or money market account, remember the key to building wealth is less about the rate your money is earning and more about the consistent practice of saving. Rates matter little if you’re not putting anything away! We suggest setting up an automatic withdrawal from your paycheck to send a specified amount to savings every month . . . and then forgetting about it for a while. The best tool for building savings, is to consistently save!
As always, we’re here to help in any way we can. Please give us a call or shoot us an email with your questions or concerns.
Joel & Troy
Joel Nance, CFP® Troy Williamson, RICP®/Financial Planner