I Check My Savings Account for This One Thing Every Month -- and You Should, Too

It's a detail you don't want to gloss over.

There's a reason I like to review my checking account balance every week or so. My checking account is what I pay all of my bills out of. And so I need to make sure I have enough cash in there to cover my expenses.

Normally, this isn't a problem, because I keep extra money in my checking account, just in case. And since I bank online and have a savings account at the same institution, I can always transfer money from one account to the other on the spot if need be.

My savings account, meanwhile, is an account I check less frequently. Since I don't tend to dip into it unless it's an emergency expense, I don't have that same need.

But these days, I do make a point to check up on my savings account once a month to look at one specific detail. And you may want to do the same.

Are you earning a decent return on your savings?

For many years, savings account interest rates were horrendously low. So were CD rates, for that matter.

But over the past number of months, savings account and CD interest rates have soared. That's very good for people with money in the bank, because it means consumers can finally earn a decent return on their cash without having to invest it and subject themselves to the risk that comes with doing that.

Because savings account rates are finally competitive, I now make a point to look at what my bank is paying once a month and make sure I'm getting a rate I'm happy with. What I'll do is check my rate against other banks to see how it stacks up. If we're talking about a very minor difference, I won't do anything. But if I see that my savings account is paying a lot less than another bank, I might look at making a switch.

So for example, let's say I see that my bank is paying 3.3% on savings accounts, and another bank is paying 3.35%. That's really not a large enough difference in interest to get me to switch and have to deal with that hassle. But if I see that another bank starts paying 3.75% and mine holds steady at 3.3%, well, that's a different story.

A detail worth looking at

You probably don't need to review your savings account as often as your checking account. But one detail to pay attention to is the interest rate you're getting on your money.

Interest rates for savings accounts aren't locked in the way CD rates are, and they can fluctuate pretty often. Keeping tabs could help you earn a higher return on your money.

Plus, it's always a good idea to compare your bank's savings account interest rate to its CD rates. If the latter are a lot more generous and you have money you don't expect to use anytime soon, putting it into a shorter-term CD could put a lot more interest income in your pocket.