6 Ways to Improve Your Yield on Cash

Yields on most savings vehicles, such as bank deposit accounts and money market mutual funds, track the Federal Reserve's federal funds rate. For seven miserable years, from 2008 to 2015, the fed funds rate was tantamount to zero--and that's about what you got from your savings.

As the Fed has raised its benchmark rate, savings rates have risen with it. "This is a huge revelation to my clients," says Jonathan Pond, a Newton, Mass., certified financial planner. "They are actually earning money on cash."

Kiplinger expects the Fed to raise rates three times in 2019. Although interest rates on savings are still low, they have caught up with inflation and beat the dividend yield of Standard & Poor's 500-stock index. And although cash may not yet be king when it comes to yields, it's important to remember that the income it generates comes with little or no risk--providing a bit of respite from volatile stock and bond markets.

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