Bank Accounts: Where Your Cash Should Actually Sit
beginner Not all places to keep cash are equal. A checking account pays almost nothing, a big-bank savings account barely more, a high-yield savings account (HYSA) can pay roughly ten times as much for the same instant access and the same FDIC insurance, and a CD pays a little more still — but only if you lock the money up and don't touch it. The simulator grows one balance in all four at once so you can see the idle-cash cost of the wrong account, then drag a slider to break the CD early and watch the withdrawal penalty erase its edge. The durable lesson: match the account to how soon you'll need the money — liquidity has value, and leaving cash in checking is a quiet, recurring tax.