NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast · NerdWallet Personal Finance

Banking in 2026: Best Banks to Consider and How to Avoid the Worst Fees

January 19, 2026·34 min·35 clips

Sean Piles opens by asking Elizabeth Ayola how her high-yield savings account is doing. Elizabeth says it is doing lovely after she switched to a provider with a higher APY. Sean answers with his own complaint, because his APY keeps going down. That exchange leads straight into the advice to shop around. The show then says it is continuing its series about your money in 2026. Banking is the topic. The episode says it will cover how to find the best high-yield savings account. It also notes that banks keep lowering the yield on their accounts. Before the banking section fully starts, Sean and Elizabeth kick off with hot takes. Each of them gets 100 seconds to go off on whatever they want in the world of money. The conversation moves into a broader argument about retirement accounts and access to them. One speaker says everyone should have a set amount for retirement. The other comes back to the question of how to help the broadest number of consumers. The discussion reaches the idea of a dignified life when people are not being exploited by billionaires. Sean and Elizabeth frame that as a practical question about what the show can do for listeners now. They also say disagreement is welcome. The episode then turns back to banking in 2026, including how AI might be changing banking this year. It asks listeners to send money questions by voicemail, text to the nerd hotline, or email. The close points people to NerdWallet's Best of Awards, adds the brief educational disclaimer, and signs off with production credits before the usual turn to the nerds.

As heard by us

A timely banking check-in for savers watching APYs slide.

Smart Money's banking-in-2026 episode makes a practical case for paying closer attention to high-yield savings accounts as APYs continue to lose some of their shine.

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Why you'd press play

Your high-yield savings APY is sliding, and this episode is about what to do next.

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