Americans were paid an additional $235 billion in interest in 2023, thanks to the Fed

If you’re carrying a lot of high-interest debt, the fact that the Federal Reserve once again did not cut interest rates at its Wednesday meeting may be disappointing, if not surprising.

If you’re carrying a lot of high-interest debt, the fact that the Federal Reserve once again did not cut interest rates at its Wednesday meeting may be disappointing, if not surprising. But the Fed’s unwillingness to lower rates until it sees more consistent progress in inflation data has — and will continue to — put money in your pocket this year if you have savings and seek out federally insured accounts with the highest rates. Put bluntly, “It’s a great time for savers,” said Greg McBride, Bankrate.com’s chief financial analyst. In 2023, savers made $315.4 billion in interest in deposit accounts, four times the $78.7 billion they earned in 2022, according to Lending Tree’s DepositAccounts.com, which used data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in its calculations. That’s because, after so many years of paltry interest rates, the Fed’s rate-hike campaign that began in 2022 made it possible for savers to earn inflation-beating yields on their US domestic deposits, including bank and credit union savings accounts, certificates of deposit and money market accounts. At the same time, yields on Treasury bills have also been very competitive with the higher rates banks are offering and are equally low risk.