Research · November 6, 2026
What 9 brokerages pay on your cash by default
Default cash rate, and what $50,000 keeps in a year after tax (22% federal, 5% state). Recomputed with every rate check.
What stood out
- 5 of 9 pay 0.10% or less by default: Ameriprise, Wells Fargo, Merrill, Schwab, E*TRADE.
- Vanguard pays 3.88% by default; E*TRADE pays 0.01%. On $50,000 that's $1,477 a year apart.
- At most of them, two trades inside the same account (a Treasury bill or money fund) close the gap. No new account needed.
How we did the math
Kept = balance × rate × (1 − federal rate − state rate × (1 − state-exempt share)). Treasury interest is fully state-exempt. Rates come from each provider’s own page or the U.S. Treasury’s daily yield curve; estimates are left out. Full method · Every option at your own numbers →
More research
- The highest rate doesn’t keep the most money
- In 19 states and D.C., a Treasury bill beats every CD we track
- What a 0.01% account costs you, by balance
- $50,000 at 0.01% has missed about $8,014 since 2022
- CD or Treasury bill? Term by term, after tax
Free to share with credit to Movable Capital. Not investment or tax advice.