How can Houston residents make more money with the money they have?

In tough times, saving money may be the last thing on your mind. But thinking about where you keep your money can help grow your savings account. Your money may be sitting in a bank right now.

KPRC 2’s Bill Spencer explores why you might consider moving your money to a bank that will give you back interest.

What is savings account interest?

If you use a traditional bank, you may not receive any additional funds for using their services. Savings account interest is how the bank pays you for keeping your money in an account with them.

This includes the annual percentage return (APY), which varies by institution, but will be higher in a high-yield savings account.

Debbie Simpson sits at the kitchen table and calculates how much money (big money) she and her husband, George, could make if they moved their money from a traditional brick-and-mortar bank to one of those fast banks. Internet banks, which are growing but relatively unknown, pay much higher interest rates.

“Well, we cashed in the life insurance policy. And now what we want to do is invest it in some high interest earning things so we have a little bit more money. “Our goal is to get the most return we can for the money we have,” Debbie said.

Both Debbie and George are US Army veterans and both are now retired. Their son, Alex, hinted that they could earn thousands of dollars more in interest a year if they took most of their money out of a savings account at a traditional bank like Chase, Bank of America or Wells Fargo. and deposit it into an online savings account through an internet bank like Brio or Synchrony.

“My son is a good investor, so he started talking to us about how he invests in online banks. He uses Synchrony, which is a bank that has a really good savings account that offers 4.5%. That’s considering Chase where we have our money is 0.01%. I think it’s great,” said Debbie.

“To me, this is no-brainer, free money,” said Ted Rossman of Bankrate.com.

According to Ted, the fact that the Federal Reserve System has raised interest rates so high over the past few years to control inflation has led some banks to offer their best interest rates in years.

Currently, he says that bank interest rates are also rising at a time when interest rates on mortgages, vehicle loans and credit cards are rising rapidly.

Now here are Ted’s top five highest paying bank savings accounts. They are all internet banks.

1. Brio Direct/5% High Yield Savings Account.

2. Forbright Bank/Growth Savings Account, again at 5%.

3. Axos Bank/Axos One Savings Account is at 4.86%.

4. Basque Bank/ Interest Savings Account 4.85%

5. My Banking Direct/ High Yield Savings Account 4.85%

Compare these interest rates to the interest rates you’d get on a traditional savings account, not a CD or an account you’ve locked in for a year or two or more, and the difference is laughable, according to Rossman.

“Unfortunately, major banks offer next to nothing in terms of checking and savings. We’re talking 0% or 0.01% or 0.02%. However, these internet banks offer much more to survive because they have to. They compete on odds,” Rossman said.

It’s also important to know that these online banks offer the same federal protection for your money that major banks offer.

So, they offer FDIC insurance on your money up to $250 thousand per customer.

As for Debbie and George, after doing their research and checking the different rates, they were sold.

They will move most of their money to an account where they can make much more money.