Had $25K in a Wells Fargo Savings Account for 5 Years? You Just Lost $5,000 in Interest
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You're not alone if you opened a savings account years ago and never thought about it again.
But that habit costs a lot of real people real money. Wells Fargo's standard savings account has paid about 0.01% for years. At that rate, $25,000 in savings earns roughly $2.50 a year. Over five years, that's about $12 in total interest.
Keeping that $25,000 in a high-yield savings account could have easily earned you more than $5,000 for doing nothing different.
High-yield accounts paid more than 300 times as much
During the last five years, online high-yield savings account APYs hovered between 3.00% and 5.00%.
Even using a very conservative 4.00% average, $25,000 would have earned roughly $5,400 in interest.
That's the $5,000 gap you never saw. Not because you did anything wrong, but because the default option at a major bank is often the worst deal available. Compare the best high-yield savings accounts here and finally start earning some interest on your money.
This gap keeps compounding
The missed earnings don't just hurt once. They cut into future growth too.
If you had earned that extra $5,000, it would now be earning interest of its own. Over another five years, that gap would grow even more.
Small habits become expensive over long stretches of time. Letting your savings sit in a low-yield account is one of the most overlooked money leaks people have.
Moving your savings takes minutes
Switching to a high-yield savings account is one of the easiest financial upgrades you can make. You don't have to change banks entirely. You can keep your checking at Wells Fargo and open an online savings account at a different bank for the higher rate.
Most transfers happen in one to three days. You'll feel the improvement within a month when you see interest deposits that are meaningful instead of pennies.
If you want to see which accounts pay the highest rates right now, here are some of the best high-yield savings accounts available today.
Our Research Expert
Jake FitzGerald is a full-time Editorial Strategist and Personal Finance Writer at Motley Fool Money, leading content production and distribution while also writing about credit cards, bank accounts, and other financial products. He has more than a decade of experience editing and shaping financial content to give readers clear, trustworthy money advice. His work focuses on delivering practical insights that empower people to make smarter financial decisions. Off the clock, he’s a fan of college football tailgates and still loyal to his favorite putter -- despite what his short game suggests.