Tim Maxwell at CBS News asked three experts whether a CD or a money market account made more sense in August 2026. The backdrop: the Fed held its rate at 3.5% to 3.75% for a fifth straight meeting, but three officials voted to raise, and futures markets were pricing roughly a 70% chance of a hike at the next meeting. A year that began with everyone expecting cuts had turned into a year of hike talk.
My answer was to lean toward the CD for most savers. CD rates were still high, and the rate you lock in stays put until maturity. A money market account floats, which sounds appealing if you expect rates to rise, but no one knows for certain where rates go next, and recent events show how quickly expectations can change. Rates like this do not sit around forever, and locking today protects against the scenario where they move against you before you act.
The practical version for readers: keep the money you may need soon in a money market or high-yield savings account for liquidity, and put the money you can commit for a defined period into a CD, or a ladder of them, so you are not betting everything on one rate call.
Read the full article at CBS →
