10 Best Ways to Earn More Interest on Your Savings

By Lisa Gerstner

If you need a safe place to park your money now, you have a lot of options — as long as you don’t expect much in the way of yield, now or in the near term. In response to the still-sluggish economy and high unemployment rate, the Federal Reserve expects to keep short-term rates near zero until at least mid 2015.

We’ve listed the top spots for eking out interest on your savings, depending on your tolerance for risk and how long you can tie up your money. A few of these recommendations have a feel-good component, such as lending money to charitable organizations.

For deposit accounts, you can check sites such as Bankrate.com and DepositAccounts.com to find top interest rates at banks and credit unions in your area, which may be higher than the nationally available ones listed here.

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