Think outside the savings box.
While money market and savings accounts are safe places to stash your money, current interest rates on high-yield savings products average below 1 percent. That's not exactly the high yield consumers are hoping to find. Bankrate's 2010 High-Yield Checking Study includes a number of checking accounts with interest rates that will beat those measly figures.
According to the study, some high-yield checking accounts top 4 percent. This gives consumers a chance to more than quadruple the income earned from a traditional high-yield savings account.
These programs do typically carry additional requirements, such as direct deposit and a minimum number of monthly debit card transactions. If you can satisfy these conditions, Greg McBride, CFA, senior financial analyst for Bankrate.com, recommends taking advantage of the opportunity to accrue more interest.
"The consumer that's going to most effectively use the rewards checking is going to be someone who can stay as close to the balance cap as possible," McBride says.
The balance cap for the majority of these programs is $25,000 or more. To understand the difference in potential earnings, use Bankrate's savings income calculator.