How to Compare Money Market Interest Rates Locally

For savers, the days of earning tantalizing rates on a wad of cash seem like a distant dream. If you need a safe place to park your money now, the prospects aren't pretty. Money funds are paying almost nothing. The most generous rates on bank deposit accounts barely brush 1%. Even the highest-yielding Internet checking accounts, once heralded as the go-to place for great rates on up to $25,000, are paying 2% to 3%—and that's only if you meet certain requirements, such as using a debit card several times a month. And agreeing to lock up your money for a few months or years doesn't help much: A five-year certificate of deposit yields, on average, 1.19%. Rates aren't moving up anytime soon, either. In response to the still-sluggish economy, the Federal Reserve announced last summer that it would keep short-term rates near zero through mid 2013—and maybe longer. SEE ALSO: Kiplinger's Economic Outlook: Interest Rates
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