Max members are earning approximately nine times as much on cash as the national average.
We all know that interest rates have remained low for the last eight years, a deliberate policy on the part of the Fed to keep the cost of funding low to help spur the economy. This has made it easier for people to borrow money to buy homes, propping up the housing market. It has been good for the stock markets, helping companies refinance high-cost debt and fund share repurchases. And it’s been favorable to hedge funds as well, reducing the cost of leverage used to boost returns.
Where low rates have had a negative effect is on investors’ cash in the bank, which yields barely anything.
There’s something odd at play this time around, though. Historically, money market funds yielded more than bank savings accounts. No longer. Most money market funds yield a small fraction of what is currently being earned by Max members.
Even more surprising, though, is the fact that term deposits and longer-term bonds are yielding far less than online banks these days. The yield on the 2-Year Treasury stands at 0.84%, and 5 Year CDs at most brick-and-mortar banks hover around 0.60%. At Chase Bank, a 10-year CD pays 1.05% — and that’s only if you keep $100,000 or more in the CD, and lock up your money for 10 years.
We at Max are puzzled as to why investors would buy 2 Year Treasurys or lock their funds up in bank CDs when it’s possible to stay liquid and earn up to 1.05% on FDIC-insured bank deposits, with no minimum deposit level.
With rates expected to rise, online banks seem like the most logical place to keep cash. As interest rates go up, cash held in these accounts can be expected to follow the upward movement in rates. With Max, cash automatically flows to the banks with the best rates, even as these banks vie to offer the highest yield on savings. This happens while keeping cash safely below the FDIC insurance limits at each bank.
While hedge funds can’t take advantage of the higher yields available through online banks, individual investors can earn significantly more by keeping cash in these online accounts. Learn how MaxMyInterest.com can help with a fully-automated solution that makes it easy to open and manage online bank accounts, all without changing how you interact with your existing checking account.