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Vanguard, Fidelity, or Schwab: Which One Pays the Most on Your Cash Right Now?

By

澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Sabrina Karl

Updated May 28, 2025

Young woman sitting at a desk at home and looking seriously at something on her laptop — Comparing r🅠ates is critical when deciding where to stash𒅌 your cash, as different brokers pay different returns. But high-yield savings accounts pay the most of all.
Maca and Naca / Getty Images

Key Takeaways

The three largest U.S. brokerage firms—Charles Schwab, Vanguard, and Fidelity—all pay different yields on their money market funds.
Though their current rates of 3.92% to 4.27% are reasonably competitive, you can earn much more—up to 5.00%—by moving funds to one of today's best high-yield savings accounts.
If holding cash where you invest is important to you, a savvy hybrid strategy is keeping some money at your brokerage while moving other funds to a higher-paying savings account.
Stashing savings in one of 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:today's best CDs is also smart, as it lets you lock in a mid-4% return for a term ranging from 3 months to 5 years.

🃏 The full articlﷺe continues below these offers from our partners.

Today's Money Market Yields at the Top 3 Brokerages

If you have a brokerage firm account, your balance will sometimes include 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:idle cash. Perhaps it was generated from the sale of a stock or ETF and you♑ haven't yet decided whether to reinvest the funds. Or perhaps you're intentionally keeping a portion of your portfolio in cash, shielding it from market volatility.

Whatever your reason, you'll want to earn a reasonable return on those uninvested funds. And while every brokerage firm offers a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:money market fund into which you can sweep yo﷽ur idle cash, the yields on these options vary across f﷽irms.

Right now, the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:three largest brokerage firms—Charles Schwab, Vanguard, and Fidelity—pay 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:money market yields in the upper 3% to lower 4% range. (Because money market fund rates change relative to the previous day's bond marke👍t, these quoted returns are the average 7-day yields.)

leads the pack, paying 4.20% on its Federal Money Market Fund (VMFXX). Amo꧂ng the three, pays the least. Its Government Money Market Fund (SPAXX) currently yields 3.92%.

Sandwiched between the two is , where most customers can earn 4.12% with its Prime Advantage Money Fund - Investor Shares (SWVXX). However, wealthy investors with at least $1 million in uninvested funds are invited to earn a higher rate with Schwab's Ultra Shares (SNAXX). There, the current yield is 4.27%—beating Vanguard's 4.20% offer.

To Earn More, M﷽ove Funds to a High-Yield Saving Account

Though rates in the upper-3% and lower-4% range are reasonably competitive, you can significantly boost your earnings by moving uninvested cash to a top-paying savings account instead. More than a dozen of 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:the best high✨-yield savings ac✃counts pay 4.40% or more—up to a top rate o🧔f 5.00% APY.

Though keeping your cash at the same institution as your investment accounts may be convenient, the advantage is slight. That's because electronic transfers to or from a bank account, while not instantaneous, can usually be executed by your brokerage firm in a single day. Also, if you don't plan to invest the cash soon, the case is even stronger for letting it earn a much higher rate in a high-yield savings account until you're ready to re-invest.

Of course, for some investors, the ultimate strategy will be a hybrid one: Keep a cushion of uninvested cash where you have your investment accounts so you can make a quick trade if desir🐼ed, while moving a portion of the funds into a nation-leading savings account to bump up your earnings.

Lock In a High, Guaranteed Return With a CD

Another good option for maximizing your return on cash is socking a portion of your savings in one of 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:today's top-paying CDs. Unlike savings and money market yields that can change at any time—and will begin falling 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:on𒆙ce the Fed begins lowering interest rates—a CD's rate is locked and guaranteed for the full term of the certificate. Right now, that means yo🍒u can lock in 4.28% to 4.65% on terms ranging from 3 months to 5 years.

Daily Rankings of the Best CDs and Savings Accounts

We update these rankings every 🌄business day to give you the best deposit r🧔ates available:

Important

Note that the "top rates" quoted here are the highest nationally available rates Investopedia has identified in its daily rate research on hundreds of banks and credit unions. This is much different than the national average, which includes all banks offering a CD with that term, including many large banks that pay a pittance in interest. Thus, the national averages are always quite low, while the top rates you can unearth by shopping around are often 5, 10, or even 15 times higher.

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, 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:read our full methodology.

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