With at least two Wall Street chief investment strategists currently advising clients to park a full quarter of their money in cash, it's an excellent time to review your options. Here's how they stack up:

Savings Accounts. The old-fashioned passbook account has moved to the Internet. HSBCdirect.com, ingdirect.com, and EmigrantDirect.com generally vie for supremacy here, playing a cat-and-mouse game of one-upmanship with occasional special sales thrown in to confuse matters further. Right now, HSBC has the edge, with an annual percentage yield (APY) of 4.80% on both new and current deposits. That rate is only good until April 30 though; after that, the bank says the new one will be "competitive." Emigrant's rate is 4.5% and doesn't have an expiration date.

Here's a strategy some investors use: Link savings accounts to lower-interest checking accounts at a local bank and transfer money back and forth online. The goal is to maximize the money earned by keeping as little money as possible in the checking account without bouncing a check.

Checking Accounts. If you want a one-account solution, consider the humble checking account. Bank of Internet USA has a 3.15% APY. EverBank offers even more if you keep more than $25,000 there.

As with any checking account, it's imperative to ask about any required account minimums, all fees and whether there are any restrictions on how often you can transfer money in or out to other institutions.

Money-Market Accounts. There are three main kinds. First, there are the ones that banks themselves offer. They, like CDs and checking and savings accounts, are guaranteed up to at least $100,000 by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in the event of a bank meltdown. Bank MMAs may offer better rates than regular checking accounts, even though the MMAs often offer bank-like ATM access and check-writing privileges. The catch is that with these MMAs, you're allowed only a certain number of some types of transactions each month.

The other two money-market vehicles are mutual funds; one type gives out tax-free yields while the other one is taxable. These are not FDIC-insured, though it's extremely rare for one to get into trouble. Rates are ranked on iMoneyNet.com. These funds are useful if you want to temporarily park dividends and proceeds from stock or mutual-fund sales before deploying the money elsewhere.

Brokerage Accounts. Until recently, most brokerage firms automatically "swept" cash into a high-yielding money-market account. Many, however, have started diverting the money into much lower-yielding accounts. Call your brokerage firm and ask where your cash gets parked and whether you can reset the sweeper to put your spare money someplace better.

Certificates of Deposit. These offer the best yields of all for the patient. Commit your money for six months (there are harsh penalties if you yank it out sooner), and you could earn an APY of 5%. Millennium Bank in Reston, Va. offers that rate to anyone, not just locals (Bankrate ranks CD's too and all listed banks offer them nationwide). The State Bank of India, which has an FDIC-insured outpost in New York City, is currently third on the charts at 4.94%.