In the $5k-$10k savings range, you can also average 4.5% just by switching banks every year and taking advantage of sign-up bonuses. With a spouse and the refer

In the $5k-$10k savings range, you can also average 4.5% just by switching banks every year and taking advantage of sign-up bonuses. With a spouse and the referral bonus, the break-even cap goes up to $15k-$30k. Everything is FDIC-insured the whole time. I'll wager that under $5k in savings, the $35/yr difference between those two account types might probably doesn't matter in the slightest. That opinion is colored by a couple of these neobanks "losing" thousands of my dollars for months at a time during transfers, the prospect of which seems much more dangerous to somebody with limited savings and likely only one bank. Above $30k, you can easily and cheaply get a medium-touch experience with a company like Merrill Lynch (who themselves offer 4.2% even in zero-risk (outside of bankruptcy) accounts) and should maybe start looking at moving some of that out of a traditional savings account anyway.