The notion of saving accounts has always been part of the American way of life. Savings account rates have changed drastically throughout the years, but the institution and the idea of wealth building through savings always remained. Always, that is, until a few decades ago when caution was thrown to the wind and expenditure exceeded income.

These days, we are called to return to our responsible way of living and put some of our income in a savings account. But which one?

The saving rates in saving accounts differ with the type of account you are thinking about. The traditional saving accounts still exist. A sum of money is put into an interest baring account and it accumulates with the years. Some accounts will let you withdraw money only a few times a month, some may have other restrictions, but the problem with those account today is that the saving rates are very low, between .5 – 1.5% in some cases. Considering that the inflation is over 2% a year, those who deposit money in these account can be actually losing money. At the end of the year, they will be able to buy less with their money than they could have in the beginning of the year.

CDs (Certificate of Deposit) are saving accounts that lock the money for a predetermined time. It can be as short as three month or as long as a few years. There is a penalty if the CD terms are broken and early withdrawal is requested. These days they yield just a little more than traditional savings accounts because their saving rates are higher.

In general, in today’s economy, banks have very low saving rates. They are charging up to 30% interest on credit card use, they get the money in bailouts that is almost interest free, but when it comes to paying up for saving and the money they are using, the rates are very low. There are alternative saving accounts to consider, and some of them have additional benefits that might make them more tempting.

Health Saving Accounts allow you to put money aside for medical bills. Some use those account in place of an expensive health insurance. The money is deposited into the owner’s account and accumulates interest. As long as the owner is healthy and does not use all the amount in his account, it rolls over from year to year bares interest and is not subject to any taxes.

High yield Saving Accounts offer sometimes as much as 5% saving rate. In those accounts the initial deposit needs to be high, and a certain guarantees have to be met.

Money Market Accounts are another form of alternative saving account. This account act, in many ways, like a mutual fund. Experts in the financial institution invest the money in solid stocks, bonds and T bills and as the portfolio performs so does the saving rates on your money.

Saving rates differ from one financial institution to the other. Comparing rates is possible, advisable and quite easy to do with the help of a computer.