A relatively new investment vehicle that might fit some investors.

A relatively new investment vehicle that might fit some investors.

Please note mention the High Interest Savings Account (HISA) in the "do this with your money right now section".

A HISA is a savings account just like any other savings account except of course the interest paid is typically much higher. 
It definitely pays MUCH more than your local bank unless they offer some sort of online only deal that perhaps pay a little more than the 0.10 most banks and credit unions pay.

The HISA on the other hand pays upwards of 5% as of the time of this writing.
While it may be worth at least taking a look at what your usual bank pays don't expect them to compare to better HISA available.  
Through one of the big brokerages most likely it won't compare to the best offer out there.

There are two great options neither of whom pays me.
The Schwab high interest account. 
Ticker symbol SWVXX paying out an annual return of 5.24%.
The Fidelity high interest account.
 Ticker symbol FZDXX paying out an annual return of 5.28%.
Remember that's as the time of this writing.

The first thought many of you may have is why even bother chasing a 5% rate if funds like the S&P 500 average about 9%-10% per year?
Well the AVERAGE may indeed be 9%-10% per year thats no guarantee.
Some years you may actually lose money, at least temporarily. 
Unlike the HASA which won't ever lose value.
Although it may pay out less when interest rates drop there is no chance to lose money.

So exactly when does a HISA makes sense and when does it not?
It makes sense when you have a larger amount of money parked in your current savings account making all of 0.10%.

 Not good. Your possible leaving thousands of dollars on the table every year for no good reason.
Another good use for the HISA would be if your saving for something special and just want to get there 5.24% faster.

It would make sense to use a HISA as a long-term investment tool.
Thats what things like index funds are for.

Still if you do have any larger sums of money sitting around collecting the banks minimum strongly consider moving it to a high interest account. 
Just make sure it's "liquid".  That is you can easily get access to your funds within say 24 hours.
That won't usually be a problem if your dealing with one of the larger brokerage firms we've mentioned. 
Smaller, less-known online-only banks may take longer.