Cash yields still near 5%

You can still get roughly 5.00% a year on plain cash in April 2026, which means the old choice between “earn nothing” and “take market risk” is not as stark as it was a few years ago. Fortune and The Motley Fool both reported top high-yield savings account offers at 5.00% annual percentage yield on April 9 and April 10, 2026. (fortune.com) (fool.com) That headline number looks even stranger when you compare it with the average bank account most people actually use. Fortune said the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation national average savings rate was 0.39%, so the best online accounts are paying more than twelve times what a typical savings account pays. (fortune.com) The reason is that online banks are still passing through a lot of the Federal Reserve’s rate increases, while big brick-and-mortar banks usually move much more slowly. The Federal Reserve’s own March 18, 2026 projections showed a median federal funds rate of 3.4% for the end of 2026, which helps explain why deposit rates are still elevated even after cuts in 2025. (federalreserve.gov) (fool.com) A high-yield savings account is basically a parking spot with a meter still running in your favor. The bank can change the rate at any time, but you can usually move your money out whenever you want without the early-withdrawal penalty that comes with a certificate of deposit. (fool.com) (fortune.com) A certificate of deposit works more like fixing the price on a hotel room before a busy weekend. Bankrate reported the best certificate of deposit rates in April 2026 at about 4.20%, while NerdWallet listed top offers around 4.25%, and those rates are locked for a set term instead of floating day to day. (bankrate.com) (nerdwallet.com) That creates the odd setup savers are looking at right now: the best flexible account is paying more than many lock-up accounts. If a high-yield savings account is paying 5.00% and a short certificate of deposit is paying 4.20% to 4.25%, the extra flexibility is not costing you much and may actually be paying more today. (fortune.com) (bankrate.com) (nerdwallet.com) The catch is that the savings-account rate can fall first. The Motley Fool said top high-yield savings accounts are still at 5.00% “for now,” and NerdWallet said certificate of deposit rates have been trending lower after the Federal Reserve cut rates three times in late 2025, which means banks are already repricing the easy-money window. (fool.com) (nerdwallet.com) So the split is less about chasing the absolute top number and more about what job the cash has. Emergency-fund money and near-term bills fit better in a high-yield savings account, while money you know you will not touch for 5 or 9 months fits better in a certificate of deposit that locks the rate before banks trim it again. (fortune.com) (nerdwallet.com) The quiet part of this story is that cash is finally behaving like an asset class again. When a saver can earn about 5.00% with daily access or about 4.20% to 4.25% with a short lockup, leaving large balances in a checking account paying near zero has become an active decision, not a harmless default. (fortune.com) (bankrate.com) (nerdwallet.com)