Should I Use a HYSA or MYGA for 3-Year Money?

The short answer

The word doing the work in this question is three-year. A high-yield savings account and a multi-year guaranteed annuity are not competing on yield so much as on certainty of yield, and certainty only matters if you actually have a horizon.

• HYSA: a bank deposit. FDIC-insured to $250,000 per depositor, per bank, per ownership category. The APY floats and the bank can change it at any time, without notice.
• MYGA: a multi-year guaranteed annuity. An insurance contract that guarantees a stated rate for a stated term. Backed by the issuing carrier and, behind it, your state's life and health guaranty association.

If you have three-year money, you are being paid to give up liquidity you were not going to use. A MYGA pays you for that. A HYSA does not, it charges you for the flexibility whether or not you use it.

Why this matters

A HYSA rate is not a promise. It is a posted rate the bank revises whenever short-term rates move, and banks are considerably quicker to cut than to raise. Every dollar sitting in a HYSA carries reinvestment risk: the risk that the rate you signed up for is not the rate you actually earn.

Over one year that risk is small. Over three years it is the whole question. A 4.25% HYSA that steps down to 3.50% and then 3.00% did not pay you 4.25%, it paid you about 3.58% a year, and you had no say in it.

A 3-year MYGA removes that variable entirely. Whatever the Fed does, the rate on the contract is the rate you earn through the end of the term. You are trading an unknown average for a known number.

Worked example with $ numbers

$250,000 with a genuine three-year horizon. MYGA rate 5.15%, which is in the range 3-year contracts have been quoting from A-rated carriers in 2026. Confirm current rates before acting, they move weekly.

Read the bottom row before the top one, because it is the honest counter-argument: if short rates rise meaningfully, the HYSA gets close. Even then it does not quite catch a 5.15% lock, and it only gets there by requiring a rate path most people would not bet on. In the flat case the MYGA is ahead by about $7,400. In the falling case it is ahead by about $12,800.

Tax angle (often overlooked)

This is where the comparison usually gets decided, and where most side-by-side charts stop short.

HYSA interest is taxed every year. The bank issues a 1099-INT and the interest is ordinary income whether you spend it or leave it. Non-qualified MYGA interest is tax-deferred. Nothing is reported and nothing is taxed until you take money out.

On $250,000, three years of HYSA interest at roughly $11,000 a year is about $11,000 a year of additional ordinary income. In a 22% federal bracket with a 9.3% California bracket, that is roughly $3,400 a year to tax, and, more importantly, roughly $11,000 a year added to MAGI.

MAGI is the number Medicare uses to set Part B and Part D premiums, and IRMAA is a cliff, not a slope. One dollar over a threshold moves you to the next tier for the entire year, for both spouses.

If you are near a bracket edge, a large HYSA balance can be the thing that pushes you over it. Deferring that interest inside a non-qualified MYGA keeps it out of MAGI until you choose to take it, which, for a retiree, is sometimes worth more than the rate difference.

Two limits on that argument. Inside an IRA, both products are already tax-deferred, so this advantage vanishes and the decision returns to rate and liquidity. And deferral is not forgiveness, the gain is ordinary income when it comes out, so the win is timing and control, not exemption.

What you give up

• Liquidity. Most 3-year MYGAs permit a free withdrawal of about 10% of account value per year. Beyond that you pay a surrender charge, commonly around 8% in year one, stepping down annually, and some contracts add a market value adjustment. See how surrender charges actually work.
• Same-day access. A HYSA transfer settles in one to three business days. A MYGA withdrawal is a carrier service request and takes longer.
• Upside if rates rise. A lock is a lock in both directions. If short rates jump, you sit at 5.15% while the HYSA repriced.
• Age flexibility. Withdrawals of gain before 59.5 carry a 10% IRS penalty on top of ordinary income tax. Under 59.5, a CD is usually the cleaner lock.
• A different backstop. FDIC is federal and pays fast. State guaranty associations cover annuities to state-specific limits, typically $250,000-$300,000 of present value, and move more slowly. Both are real; they are not identical.

When the answer changes

• You might need the money in year one or two. HYSA. It is not three-year money, whatever the plan said.
• You are under 59.5. HYSA or a 3-year CD. The 10% early-distribution penalty on gain makes a non-qualified MYGA an awkward fit.
• The balance is over $250,000 and you want one relationship. A MYGA avoids splitting across banks for FDIC coverage, but check your state's guaranty limit, it may cap lower than the deposit you are placing.
• You are close to an IRMAA threshold. This tilts hard toward the MYGA, because the deferral keeps the interest out of MAGI.
• The money is already inside an IRA. The tax argument disappears. Compare rate, carrier rating, and surrender terms only.
• You genuinely expect short rates to rise from here. Stay floating, or ladder: half in a 3-year MYGA, half liquid.

Common mistakes

• Comparing today's HYSA rate to the MYGA rate. The MYGA does not have to beat today's HYSA. It has to beat the average of what the HYSA pays over three years, and that average is unknown at the moment you decide.
• Ignoring the annual 1099-INT. Comparing a taxed-annually product to a tax-deferred one on headline yield alone overstates the HYSA, sometimes by more than the rate gap.
• Locking money you will need. The surrender charge on an early exit erases several years of the rate advantage in one transaction. This is the expensive mistake, and it is always avoidable at the decision point.
• Shopping rate without shopping the carrier. The highest 3-year MYGA rate on a comparison table is often a small or newly capitalized insurer. Check the AM Best rating and your state's guaranty association limit before the rate.
• Assuming the teaser rate holds. Some contracts quote a first-year bonus rate and a lower base rate afterward. For a true lock, confirm the guaranteed rate applies to every year of the term.

Decide it in five minutes

Answer these in order. The first "no" ends the question.

1. Is there any realistic claim on this money inside three years? A roof, a car, a tuition bill, a business call, a health event you are already anticipating. If yes, stop, HYSA.
2. Are you 59.5 or older? If no, stop, a 3-year CD is the cleaner lock, because the 10% early-distribution penalty on gain does not apply to it.
3. Is the money non-qualified, or already inside an IRA? Non-qualified is where the tax-deferral advantage is real. Inside an IRA, keep going, but weigh rate and surrender terms only.
4. Does the best 3-year MYGA rate beat your HYSA today? If it does, it will almost certainly beat the three-year average, because a HYSA can only follow rates down.
5. Is the carrier A-rated, and is the amount within your state's guaranty limit? If not, take the lower rate at the better carrier, or split the deposit.

If you reach the end with five yeses, the MYGA is the answer and the only thing left is which contract.

A middle path: split it

The choice is not binary, and treating it as binary is why people either lock money they need or leave everything floating for years.

On $250,000 with a three-year horizon and some uncertainty, a common structure is to keep six to twelve months of anticipated need in the HYSA and lock the balance. Say $60,000 liquid and $190,000 in a 3-year MYGA.

You keep same-week access to the part you might actually touch, you lock the rate on the part you will not, and you cut the annual 1099-INT by roughly three quarters, which is the piece that was quietly feeding your MAGI.

The split also solves the honest problem with step 1 of the checklist above: most people cannot answer "will I need this?" with certainty. You do not have to. You only have to size the part you might need, and lock the rest.

What to do next

• Decide honestly whether this is three-year money. If there is a real claim on it before the term ends, keep it in a HYSA and stop here.
• If it is committed, pull current 3-year MYGA rates and current 3-year CD rates on the same day. Rates move weekly and a stale comparison is worse than no comparison.
• Check the carrier's AM Best rating and your state's guaranty association limit against the amount you are placing.
• If Medicare premiums are in play, run the interest through the IRMAA bracket math before deciding, the deferral can be worth more than the rate.
• Related reading: moving from a HYSA to a CD when rates fall and MMF vs. MYGA.

Follow-up Questions

Disclosure

This article is general educational information, not personalized financial, tax, or legal advice. HYSA APYs, CD rates, and MYGA rates change frequently, confirm current figures with the bank or carrier and the actual contract or account agreement before acting. FDIC insurance covers deposits at member banks up to $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, per ownership category. State insurance guaranty associations cover annuity contracts up to state-specific limits (typically $250,000-$300,000). Hans Goldstein is an independent licensed insurance producer (NPN 20602398). No compensation has been received from any bank or carrier in connection with this article. Past rates do not predict future rates. Tax discussion reflects federal law as of 2026 and is subject to change; consult a CPA for your specific situation.