If you’ve been enjoying a better return on your savings, September 16 is a date worth watching. The Federal Reserve is holding its September policy meeting on September 15–16, and changes in short-term interest rates can eventually influence what banks are willing to pay depositors. However, your bank doesn’t have to wait for another Fed meeting (or necessarily give you a month’s warning) to change the APY on a typical variable-rate savings account. That makes your savings account interest rate something worth checking regularly rather than assuming today’s yield will continue through the end of the year. Here’s how quickly a rate can change, why banks don’t all move together, and how much a seemingly small reduction can actually cost you.
