High Interest Savings Account Trends Over Time

Updated: Jun 12, 2024

Interest rates for mortgage loans are higher than they’ve been in a while for many reasons. The positive side of this is that savings account rates have gone up significantly. Recently, as the economy is showing signs of decelerating, there has been talk about when mortgage rates will be cut significantly in 2024. There is a need for lower interest rates to attract more home buyers as the job market is cooling and there is an unfavorable outlook for consumer spending.

Let’s take a look at how the savings account interest rates have changed over time.

SAVINGS INTEREST RATES OVERTIME

1980s	8% interest back on savings that was given to savers hasn’t been seen in decades.
1990s	Savings rates are basically cut in half due to the fact that financial institutions couldn’t support high rates due to the deregulation at the time.
2000s	During the Great Recession and savings rates dropped to 1%-2%.
2008	We were in a financial crisis which cut savings rates to 0.25% and lower.
2009-2021	Savings rates are extremely low between 0.21%-0.06% and not considered a great investment if at all.
2018 - 2022	Many small online only banks, credit unions increased their savings rates to 4% or more.
2023	You can find savings rates higher than 4% at about 5.30% at some banks.