Here are some safe places to park short-term cash
— -- Q: What online bank would you suggest as a secure short-term place to park cash?
A: Reformed stock investors, who got a refresher course on the meaning of risk in 2008, are looking for a place to escape the volatility.
When it comes to parking cash, you have a few options. One would be buying Treasury securities. Unfortunately, though, you're not the first person to think of this. And the surge in demand has pushed yields on Treasuries to pretty low levels.
If you're going to buy Treasuries, you will want to be careful to ladder your portfolio so you can preserve your capital in case interest rates rise. You can read more about laddering here.
Another option is the one you're asking about: a high-yield savings account. Most of the banks offering the highest yields provide these accounts online only, perhaps because the costs are lower.
Some of the best-known providers of high-yield savings accounts include ING Direct and HSBC Direct. But there are many others, which you can research here.
Just be careful to not simply chase the bank offering the highest yield. Be absolutely sure the bank and your deposits are covered by FDIC insurance. If you don't know how to check, you'll want to read this.
Matt Krantz is a financial markets reporter at USA TODAY and author of Investing Online for Dummies. He answers a different reader question every weekday in his Ask Matt column at money.usatoday.com. To submit a question, e-mail Matt at mkrantz@usatoday.com. Click here to see previous Ask Matt columns.
