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Mark Cuban Says Savings Accounts Leave Money on the Table - But This Move Could Help Your $140,000 Earn $5,068 More

Mark Cuban's advice is a reminder to keep near-term cash safe and move the rest where it can earn more.

Mark Cuban
Laura Hohenstein
Melinda Sineriz, ABFP®
By Laura Hohenstein , Edited by Melinda Sineriz, ABFP®
Updated Oct. 28, 2026
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Quick Read

  • $140,000 at 4.00% APY earns about $5,600 over one year, or roughly $467 a month.
  • The same $140,000 at 0.38% APY (as of 10/27/26) earns about $532 a year, or about $44 a month.
  • That creates a $5,068 annual gap, which is why the account your cash sits in matters so much.
  • At the national average savings rate of 0.38% (as of 06/15/26), $20,000 earns $76 a year. The same balance could earn up to nine times more with a SoFi Checking and Savings account. See SoFi®'s current rate.

A big savings balance can feel like a win and a frustration at the same time. You did the hard part by keeping the money together, but the monthly interest credit might still look like loose change.

That's the pressure point in Mark Cuban's cash advice. Coverage of Cuban's views has emphasized keeping money available for emergencies and short-term needs, while also warning that cash left in low-yield savings for too long can have a major opportunity cost.

For a $140,000 balance, the difference between a sleepy savings rate and a high-yield savings account can run into thousands of dollars a year. By the end, you'll be able to sort which dollars might belong in a HYSA and which dollars should stay exactly where they're easiest to reach.

Cuban is talking about cash

Cuban's point lands because cash has a job that feels boring until the rate changes. Cash is supposed to be stable, available, and useful when life gets expensive. But if your savings account pays almost nothing, that same safety can come with a real opportunity cost.

You already know saving matters. Cuban is pushing on the cash you don't need this week, and whether that money is sitting in a place that pays you meaningfully for keeping it there.

High-yield savings can do more

The move here is plain: shift eligible cash from a low-rate savings account into a high-yield savings account, without turning that cash into an investment. A HYSA is still a savings account category, so the point is higher yield on cash you want to keep separate from the stock market.

Say you find a high-yield savings account paying 4.00% APY, which is achievable for high-yield savings right now. Using 4.00% keeps the example conservative rather than chasing the top rate on the market.

When you're comparing deposit accounts, annual percentage yield, or APY, shows what an account can earn over a year after compounding is included. That's useful because it reflects interest on both the original balance and interest already credited.

A regular savings account and a HYSA often do the same basic job: hold money you don't want in checking. The difference is the rate. And once the balance gets large, the rate stops being a tiny detail.

$140,000 can mean thousands

Start with the clean side of the math. If you have $140,000 in a high-yield savings account paying 4.00% APY for one year, the balance earns about $5,600. That's about $467 a month in interest on money that still stays in cash.

If you have One year at 0.38% APY (national average) One year at 3.80% APY (example) You are leaving behind
$10,000 $38 $380 $342
$25,000 $95 $950 $855
$40,000 $152 $1,520 $1,368
$50,000 $190 $1,900 $1,710
$100,000 $380 $3,800 $3,420

The lower-rate side of this comparison uses 0.38% APY (as of 10/27/26), the national-average figure cited in current savings-rate coverage. On the same $140,000 balance, that rate earns about $532 over one year.

So the comparison looks like this:

  • $140,000 at 4.00% APY for one year earns about $5,600.
  • $140,000 at 0.38% APY for one year earns about $532.
  • The difference is $5,068 over one year.

That gap doesn't require risky moves or clever timing. It comes from the same balance sitting in two different savings accounts, one paying a competitive cash yield and one paying a much smaller one.

Run the gap on your balance

You don't need $140,000 for the rate gap to matter. You need your current APY, a high-yield savings APY you could reasonably qualify for, and the amount of cash that actually fits in savings.

Here's the quick math:

Annual gap = savings balance × (high-yield APY - current APY)

Say you have $25,000 in a savings account paying 0.38% APY, and you compare it with a high-yield savings account paying 4.00% APY. The rate gap is 3.62 percentage points, so $25,000 × 0.0362 = $905 over one year.

That doesn't mean every dollar you have should move. It means your own APY gives you a starting point, and your actual savings account balance tells you whether the payoff is lunch money or rent money.

Some cash should stay put

High-yield savings works best for cash that needs stability and access, but doesn't need to sit in checking for tomorrow morning. Think emergency savings beyond next month's bills, taxes due in a few months, a vacation fund, or cash set aside for a home repair.

Money you need this week or this month belongs somewhere you can use it immediately. If rent, utilities, payroll, or a closing wire is already scheduled, don't create transfer timing stress just to chase a better rate.

Money you won't need for five or more years could have a different job. A HYSA is built for access and cash stability, not long-term growth. So sort your cash into three piles: money for immediate bills, money for near-term goals, and money for the future. The middle pile is where high-yield savings tends to make the most sense.

The hassles are mostly knowable

The practical stuff matters because a better rate isn't useful if the account creates problems when you need the money. External ACH transfers commonly take one to three business days, while some same-day ACH payments can post the same business day if they meet cutoff times.

Deposit insurance is another box to understand before moving a six-figure balance. The FDIC insures eligible deposits up to $250,000 per depositor, per FDIC-insured bank, per ownership category. The NCUA share insurance limit is $250,000 per share owner, per insured credit union, for each account ownership category.

Then look at the account rules that affect everyday use:

Fees, balance requirements, deposit requirements, transfer methods, processing times, and withdrawal limits can vary by account. Federal rules don't require a six-withdrawal monthly cap on savings accounts anymore, but some institutions still set their own limits.

The real tradeoff is that a high-yield savings rate isn't fixed. If market rates fall, your account's yield might fall too. But a variable rate doesn't erase the value of comparing your current APY with what high-yield savings is paying now, because the gap on a large balance can be too big to ignore.

Bottom line

Check your current savings APY, keep immediate bills in checking, and identify the cash you want stable but don't need today. That's the middle pile where Cuban's cash advice becomes your decision.

At 4.00% APY, $140,000 earns about $5,600 over one year. At 0.38% APY, that same balance earns about $532, so leaving the money at the lower rate costs about $5,068 a year.

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