Current Money Market Interest Rates

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Current money market interest rates are so low that it's simply not worthwhile to spend time shopping around.

You can find lists of banks around the United States at this link:

current money market interest rates

But you'll notice they don't vary by much, and are now roughly 1%, or even less.

One percent of $1 million dollars is just $10,000.

If you manage to find a fund paying 1.02%, then over the entire year you'll receive $10,200 instead.

If you're smart enough to have a million dollars to park, the time you spend obtaining that extra $200 is probably worth more if you'd used it to earn money.

Besides, if you're smart enough to have that million dollars, you probably realize that money market accounts are good only for obtaining a (slight) edge by earning a (very small return) on cash needed to be used for monthly expenses.

Current Money Market Interest Rates are Too Low to Stress Over

That is, a good strategy is to keep just enough in your money market account to pay bills over $100 (or whatever the check writing minimum for your money market account happens to be) and to periodically replenish your local personal checking account, which is what you use for checks under $100 and cash you'll take out of ATM machines and for paying for things with a debit card.

Money in a regular checking account doesn't pay any interest these days (not since the early 1980s), but is more convenient than money market funds, so you need at least one of both.

So, depending on your monthly household budget, you may keep $5,000 or so in your money market and $500 or so in your checking account.

When you need to pay your mortgage, you write a money market fund check for $2,376. When you need an extra $100 cash while you're at the mall, you use an ATM machine to take it out of your checking account.

When your personal checking account runs low, you write a check from your money market account and deposit more funds.

Money Market Accounts are Temporary Parking Lots, Not Permanent Building Sites

When you receive a large amount of cash and either can't or won't spend it right away, a money market fund is a good place to store it temporarily.

Let's say you've saved up $50,000 for a downpayment on a house. Keep it in a money market account until you find your dream house, your loan is approved by the bank and you must produce those funds at the closing.

However, because current interest rates of money market accounts are so low, it's ridiculous to keep cash in them for long periods of time.

The interest you receive will likely be below the current rate of inflation, so you'd be losing purchasing power.

Money market accounts are not considered long term investments, and should not be treated that way in your portfolio.

Back to that million dollars . . . I can't think of a scenario where any sane person would want to keep that much money in a money fund for an entire year. Thus, you'll not receive the full $200 extra as your "reward" for finding a fund that yields an extra two-tenths of one percent.

Chances are you'd save more money just by catching a few bargain sales at your local mall.

Instead of spending time searching for the best current money market interest rates at banks a thousand miles from your home, just work another hour of overtime or find and take on another client.

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