What your cash should be earning. Right now.
Banks index off short-term Treasuries. So the 3-month T-bill rate is a clean tell for what a high-yield savings account should be paying. If your bank's a percent below — that's what you're giving away.
3-month T-bill
3.61%
as of 2026-05-11
This is the cleanest proxy for what a high-yield savings account should be paying. Banks set HYSA rates off short-term Treasuries — if your bank is a full percent below this number, you're handing them money. A 1% gap on $20K of savings is $200/year. Move banks; takes 15 minutes.
1-year Treasury
3.79%
as of 2026-05-11
If you've got cash you don't need for 12 months — house fund, wedding fund, planned big expense — locking it in a 1-year Treasury (or CD priced near this) usually beats keeping it liquid. The premium over the 3-month is the bonus you get for committing the time.
Fed funds rate
3.63%
as of 2026-05-11
The Fed's headline rate — the floor under everything else. When it goes up, savings yields go up; when it cuts, your HYSA's about to drop too. Watch this if you're deciding whether to lock a longer-term CD before rates fall.
Source: Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED), St. Louis Fed.