Have you noticed banks quoting their “APYs” and wondered what that means? APY stands for annual percentage yield. Banks are required to prominently display this rate for their deposit accounts, like savings accounts and certificates of deposit (CDs). APY gives you the most accurate idea of what your money could earn in a year.
What is APY?
APY indicates the total amount of interest you earn on a deposit account over one year, assuming you do not add or withdraw funds for the entire year. APY includes your interest rate and the frequency of compounding interest, which is the interest you earn on your principal plus the interest on your earnings. As you can see, APY takes into account several factors to give you a big-picture view of your earning potential.
It’s important to note that APY is different from APR, so double-check to know which number you’re looking at. Go here to learn more about the difference between APY and APR.
How to calculate APY
If you like to figure things out yourself, there are a few ways you can calculate the APY on any account you’re considering. If you want to go old school with paper and pencil (and maybe a calculator), just apply the basic formula for APY:
You can also create a simple spreadsheet to do the calculations for you. This option gives you the ability to plug in different numbers to easily see how the variables—like whether the interest is compounded daily, quarterly, or monthly—affect the overall APY.
How to input APY into Excel:
- Start by setting up cells A1, A2, and A3.
- Then, enter the values in cells B1 and B2. This example uses an interest rate of 1.50 percent with daily compounding. You can check your bank statement or go online to find rates you’re interested in calculating.
- Finally, in cell B3, type =EFFECT(B1, B2) and hit “enter.” (That’s Excel’s automatic application of the formula above.) This will give you the APY (as a decimal) in cell B3.
Here’s how your spreadsheet should look now:
- Move that decimal to the right two places, and you end up discovering an APY of 1.51 percent for this example.
Of course, you can also do a quick online search for “APY calculator,” and find product-specific calculators like this one for CDs on Bankrate.com, or general calculators like this one to run some numbers for you.
So what does this all mean for your wallet?
Simply put, the higher the APY, the faster your balance grows. If you have two similar interest rates, the more frequently interest is compounded, the higher the APY will be. Those higher APYs can mean more savings for you.
Take a look at the difference in potential interest earned with a $25,000 deposit, and have a little fun imagining what that extra interest could buy:
So don’t be tempted to ignore what look like small percentage points—those numbers can really add up over time. When you’re looking to bolster your bottom line, it pays to compare APYs on CDs (certificates of deposit), savings accounts, and any other savings product you consider. That way you can be sure you’re getting the most accurate estimate of your potential earnings.
See how the Ally Bank Online Savings Account stacks up
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Tom on October 27, 2018 at 5:19am
If I deposit $5000 into a savings account and add $100 per month to it , at 2.00% APY what would my fist year earning be ?
tony on November 5, 2018 at 4:17pm
2 dollars.
Joe on December 6, 2018 at 1:13am
Tom You would have $6313.12 but remember you put in $1200 of it. So you you made $113.12 interest.
Rey on December 20, 2018 at 12:58pm
Im a bit confused. So if i have 10,000 in an account that has 2% APY Does that mean i get 200 in interest every month?
Mike on January 15, 2019 at 2:48pm
No, for $10k it would be $200 a year, not a month, since Annual Percentage Yield = the total money you earn in interest over a year, expressed as a percentage of your total balance.
Ana on February 17, 2019 at 11:45am
Hello What interest would you earn if you have 10,000 with a bank that has a yearly interest of 0.01% in 3yrs. Can someone help to figure this out thank you.
Chelsea on February 19, 2019 at 2:55pm
Thank you, this helped alot!
Mari on March 5, 2019 at 7:21pm
If I deposit $25,000.00 with 2.60% APY & 2.57% Interest rate for 18 months, how much money would I earned for that 18 months?
Carl L. on April 9, 2019 at 4:54am
If a bank thinks i'm loaning them my money for an entire year at 2% interest, they have to be on crack. Thanks to the internet, there are many ways to nearly double that same money over the course of a year.
Victoria on May 27, 2019 at 4:52pm
If I put $625 a month in an account that earns 2.25 APY. How much interest will I earn in a year?
Ally on June 3, 2019 at 1:36pm
Hi Victoria, check out our Online Savings Account calculator, it will help you calculate estimated interest earned and compare the cost of banking somewhere else: https://www.ally.com/bank/online-savings-account/?linkTo=calculators
Martha on June 8, 2019 at 6:42pm
Hi Wondering if you could calculate a CD 18mos 2.50% APY would earn
Ally on June 18, 2019 at 9:50am
Hi Martha, check out our Estimate Your Earnings tool, it will help you calculate estimated interest earned: https://www.ally.com/bank/high-yield-cd/
Lulu on July 5, 2019 at 1:41pm
Carl, what way is that?
John on at