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Key Takeaways
- With inflation running at 2.9%, your savings is losing value if it’s earning less than that rate.
- Fortunately, you can move your cash into one of the top high-yield savings accounts, which are paying returns of 4%–5%—enabling your money to grow instead of shrink.
- With more Fed rate cuts expected, locking in a top nationwide CD rate soon could help you beat inflation for months or even years.
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Is Your Savings Keeping Up?
At 2.9%, the inflation rate may have cooled from its 2022 highs, but it’s still the magic number your savings need to beat to stay ahead. If your account earns only 1% while prices rise 2.9%, you’re effectively losing 1.9% of your money’s value each year.
That’s because inflation doesn’t just make groceries and gas cost more—it quietly erodes how much of anything your money can buy. And most banks aren’t helping. The national average savings rate is just 0.40%, while big names like Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo pay a near-zero 0.01%.
This widening gap between inflation and bank yields leaves millions of savers falling behind every month. But you don’t have to settle for that. Accounts that beat the inflation rate are easy to find, and moving your savings can stop the slow drip of lost value while helping your balance grow.
Why This Matters for You
Inflation erodes buying power, but you don’t have to fall behind. Choosing an account that pays more than the inflation rate will help your savings grow instead of shrink.
How To Stay Ahead of Inflation: Today’s Best High-Yield Accounts
One of the easiest ways to beat inflation’s bite is with a high-yield savings account. You’ll earn more than at a traditional bank and still have full access to your cash.
Though the Fed trimmed interest rates in September, it’s still a favorable time for savers. Today’s top high-yield savings accounts include 15 offers between 4.25% and 5.00%, keeping you solidly ahead of the 2.9% benchmark.
As the chart below shows, the top high-yield savings accounts have outpaced inflation for two and a half years—and that trend may continue in the months ahead.
Even if you’re earning 2% APY—multiple times the national average—you’re still trailing today’s magic number of 2.9%. By moving to a top account that pays more, your money can grow instead of losing ground.
It’s Not Too Late to Move to a Higher Rate
Even with the Federal Reserve expected to cut interest rates this fall, switching to a top-paying account can help minimize losses. Rate reductions should be gradual, and the best yields are still likely to stay ahead of inflation for a while. Every day you wait, your savings loses value.
How To Use CDs to Lock In an Inflation-Beating Rate
After you’ve put money in a high-yield savings account, the next step is to level up your earnings with a certificate of deposit (CD). CDs require you to set aside your money for a fixed term—ranging from a few months to several years—but they guarantee your APY for the entire period.
That protection matters now. With the Fed already cutting rates and likely to lower them further this fall, locking in one of today’s top CD yields can help you hold onto an inflation-beating return for longer.
Keeping some funds liquid in savings is important, but shifting part of your balance into a CD lets you secure today’s elevated returns before they fade. The top nationwide CDs currently pay up to 4.45% for terms under a year, or 4.00%–4.25% for longer terms—both well above the inflation benchmark.
Daily Rankings of the Best Savings and CD Accounts
We update these rankings every business day to give you the best deposit rates available:
How We Find the Best Savings and CD Rates
Every business day, Investopedia tracks the rate data of more than 200 banks and credit unions that offer CDs and savings accounts to customers nationwide and determines daily rankings of the top-paying accounts. To qualify for our lists, the institution must be federally insured (FDIC for banks, NCUA for credit unions), and the account’s minimum initial deposit must not exceed $25,000. It also cannot specify a maximum deposit amount that’s below $5,000.
Banks must be available in at least 40 states to qualify as nationally available. And while some credit unions require you to donate to a specific charity or association to become a member if you don’t meet other eligibility criteria (e.g., you don’t live in a certain area or work in a certain kind of job), we exclude credit unions whose donation requirement is $40 or more. For more about how we choose the best rates, read our full methodology.
