If you think interest on savings accounts and CDs is low now, just wait until the Federal Reserve Bank rates go negative.
At that point, it might cost you money to stash your cash in a savings account. Savers, in other words, would do better to buy a safe.
Don't fret yet!
It hasn't happened, although Federal Reserve Bank Bank Chair Janet Yellen hinted at it in February. But it has happened in Japan and the European Central Bank and several other small central banks like Sweden.
According to the BBC, this maneuver in Sweden was a policy decision designed to stimulate economic growth by raising inflation. Indeed, negative interests rates give savers two choices: Buy a safe for the house or spend the cash. Getting consumers to spend, instead of saving, could be one reason central bank interest rates could go lower.
Negative interest rates, much hated by some economists and investors, turns investing upside down. Government bonds, instead of being a slow but safe investment, would actually start deducting money. For example, you loan the government $100 through a bond and you instantly have $99.99 and it keeps going lower.