Making money: Bargain-hunting tips, and more

Three top pieces of financial advice — from how to maximize your savings to the differences between startups and corporations

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Maximizing your savings

Don't count on interest rates to help you grow your nest egg, said John Waggoner at USA Today. The last time you could get a five-year certificate of deposit yielding more than five percent was in 2000. "Since then, savings rates are lower than an ant's basement." The most you can get from a five-year CD these days is two percent, and the average money market fund yields a paltry 0.01 percent. Savings rates probably won't go up until unemployment falls, so you may "just have to wait it out." But one solution is to split your savings among a mixture of Treasury notes, bonds, and stocks, which all have different yields. Just remember that each investment comes with a different kind of risk, so keep some of your portfolio in cash.

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Sergio Hernandez is business editor of The Week's print edition. He has previously worked for The DailyProPublica, the Village Voice, and Gawker.