This Is How Much Money You're Losing by Keeping $10K in a Regular Checking Account

While they do exist, it's the rare checking account that pays interest on your money. And among those rare unicorn accounts that do pay interest, it's typically a pathetically low rate. That's why it's so important to keep an eye on how much is sitting in your checking account. Simply put, if you have a chunk of change lingering in checking, you're missing out on a great chance for free money.

For example, here are three FDIC-insured account types that make earning interest easy.

High-yield savings accounts

The silver lining of rising interest rates is that banks currently pay more for the honor of keeping your money safe and warm in a high-yield savings account. For example, CIT Platinum Savings is paying a sweet 5.00% APY for balances of $5,000 or more.

Let's say you want to keep a bit of a cushion in your checking account, so you move $8,000 to CIT Platinum Savings. And for the sake of illustration, let's assume that CIT's high-yield savings account rate doesn't change over the next 12 months. Rather than earn zippo in a checking account, you would earn $404 over the course of the year. That's money in your pocket for doing nothing.

You didn't even have to take a risk. Like most savings accounts, the CIT Platinum Savings account is FDIC insured for up to $250,000, per depositor.

Money market account

Another option is to move the funds into a money market account (MMA). If you're not familiar with MMAs, here a quick rundown:

• MMAs are interest-bearing deposit accounts that typically combine features of savings accounts and checking accounts.
• You'll find that MMAs are a great place to stash money that you're saving for a specific purpose, like a wedding or new car.
• Normally, an MMA requires a larger deposit than a standard savings account.
• An MMA can include checks and debit cards that allow ATM access.
• MMAs may limit some monthly transactions, like the number of checks you write or transfers from one account to another.
• MMAs are FDIC insured for up to $250,000 per depositor, per FDIC-insured bank, per ownership category (that's just a fancy way of saying your money is 100% safe as long as there's less than $250,000 in the account).

If you're looking for an MMA that earns money while you sleep, look no further than Redneck Bank (yes, it's an honest-to-goodness bank). The bank is currently paying an APY of 5.05% on deposits up to $100,000. And if you can stand one more cool feature of Redneck's MMA, there's no minimum balance required.

Like the CIT Bank high-yield savings account, putting money in a Redneck Bank MMA means an $8,000 deposit will be worth $8,404 in 12 months. Again, it's an example of putting your money to work for you.

Quick note about Redneck Bank: Remember a few moments ago when I called interest-bearing checking accounts "unicorns?" Redneck Bank is one of the few financial institutions I've run across that pays a truly respectable rate on checking. If you were to open an account today, you would earn 5.30% on up to $15,000 in deposits. For a bank with a funny name, it sure offers a serious APY.

Certificate of deposit (CD)

In a nutshell, here's how a CD works:

• You deposit a fixed amount of money for a fixed period of time. For example, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, etc.
• As long as you leave the money alone during that time, you earn the full promised APY on your CD account. If you withdraw money before it matures, you'll lose a portion of the interest you would have earned.

If you were to open a 12-month Western Alliance Bank CD CD, you could earn an APY of 5.05%. Not only is that 3.1 times higher than the national average, but it means that a $8,000 deposit would earn just shy of $441 over the course of those 12 months. Like the other accounts mentioned here, it's FDIC insured.

As someone who fights a life-long urge to keep far too much money in checking, I understand how hard it is to change the way you do things. However, as long as interest rates are high, I say we milk them for all they're worth.