How to Choose the Right High Yield Savings Account

Before you sign up for a high yield savings account there are 7 features of savings accounts I have learned are important to consider.

  1. No fees –
    • no fees/penalties if i don’t maintain a certain balance
    • No monthly maintenance fees
    • Most high yield savings accounts are good about this
  2. High APY with reasonable minimum account balance requirements or no minimum balance requirements at all.
  3. Good website and app to use – ill tell you when we switched to CIT Bank their mobile app was blah, but they’ve recently updated it so it looks really good!
  4. Unlimited transfers to and from – not all savings accounts let you do this, so its nice to be able to have this feature to move money when you want or need
  5. This goes without saying but make sure the bank or financial institution you choose to open your high yield savings account is FDIC insured or NCUA insured, NCUA is for credit unions.
    • I’ll put a link in the description to the FDIC webpage where you can type in the name of the financial institution you’re think about opening an account with
  6. The highest APY isn’t always the best. As someone who’s been following high yield savings account for a couple of years now I’ve seen companies offer the highest APY out there to get new customers and then drop the APY they’re offering
  7. Customer service
    1. I’m willing to look over some things, but customer service is not one of them
    2. If I call with an issue or try to chat online and I’m not getting good feedback then that to me is a red flag.
    3. Sometimes the higher interest rate is not worth the headache you have to endure with poor customer service.

Matt

Hi! I'm Matt, an engineer on the path to financial independence and early retirement. One of my greatest passions is to teach and give people the tools and knowledge to reach their full potential in life. Subscribe to the Habesha Finance newsletter and get your FREE financial checklist today!