Records are made to be broken and every time the Olympic Games are on, there seem to be more records made in running, swimming or jumping. Those athletes who manage to break records are the medal winners. Everyone these days likes to see fast results in whatever they do. We like to get to places faster, so we build faster cars and planes. We like to fit more into our days, so we live at a faster pace.

Better still, we like to see our savings grow faster. Traditionally, this has not been quite so easy. But these days, there are many products on the market and each time a new one is offered, it has to have some special appeal to make it more attractive. This may be in the form of lower fees, higher interest or more features. Depending on your needs, you may choose lower interest rates to get certain features that you need. In other cases, you may prefer to seek out the high interest rate that some savings accounts offer.

To grow your savings in record time, you need to find a high yield savings account that offers an excellent interest rate, but charges no fees. And even more important than the actual interest rate offered is when it is both calculated and accredited. With most savings accounts interest is calculated daily and credited monthly. This is excellent because you then are paid interest on your interest.

Many electronic accounts give competitive interest rates, but some have a catch. For instance, if you make any withdrawals, you get no interest at all for that month, or if you fail to deposit a certain amount during one month, then interest is also forfeited. However, it is possible to use your automatic deposit feature so that you don’t forget to make a deposit.

There’s no doubt about it, the athletes will be doing their best to run and swim faster, jump higher and generally be stronger than their competitors during these Olympic Games. And those who are faster, higher and stronger will take home gold, silver and bronze. Some will end up being much richer due to lucrative offers from sponsors. They have invested their whole lives for this moment of glory.

The investor, on the other hand can start his run to riches at any time of life. He doesn’t have to be young, fit or strong to make a difference to his life financially by investing. And unlike an athlete, an investor can keep on investing and making money right into his old age. Of course the best time to start investing is when you are young, but that is not always possible. Not all young people have well-paid jobs - and they often have to pay off a car or home. But there is one big difference.

An athlete must invest his whole time and effort into training to have any chance of winning. An investor on the other hand, can make a smaller effort and still win. That is, the investor can save just dollars a week - or he may take a part-time job especially to invest that money. No one could hope to win a medal by training only on a Saturday. But an investor can work on a Saturday and invest that money in a high yield saving account or term deposit - and if he does that for long enough, he will end up with a sizeable investment at some stage in his life. So even if you are not faster or stronger than the athletes, you can be richer by some wise investing and just a little bit of hard work. It’s really worth it in the long run.

Traditionally, banks offered very small rates of interest on their savings account, but of latter years they’ve been forced to become more competitive. This is due to the many alternatives that have sprung up with non-bank institutions and Internet only banks. Internet-only banks typically offer the highest interest rates and no fees - or very low fees. You do have to have another bank account to link to them, since there is no other way of accessing your money. There is no bank building to go to. All deposits and withdrawals are done over the Internet or by telephone. It takes about two days for the transfer, which is good for those who struggle with saving. It means there is that wait before they can access their money and thus they have time to think about spending it, instead of spending impulsively.

Traditional banks now also offer Internet-only savings accounts. They work the same way as above, but there are still the bricks and mortar banks from which you can access personal help or advice when needed. An electronic account in a traditional bank may not offer quite the same high interest rates as an Internet-only bank, but some people like the security that a real time bank can afford. Some electronic accounts offer even higher interest for those months when no transactions are made.

Cash management accounts usually offer better interest rates than a general savings account. They make it easy to access your money on a daily basis if this is what you need to do. Many have tiered interest rates - they give more interest for the larger balance, but really low interest for a low balance. Many other savings and transaction accounts also have a tiered interest rate structure. This is fine if you know your balance is going to be high most of the time.