Investors should soon see better yields on their cash now that the Federal Reserve has hiked interest rates. The central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee voted unanimously to increase the federal funds rate by a quarter percentage point, to a target range of 3.75% to 4%, on Wednesday. It was the first hike since July 2023. “The good news is you may see a little bit more [yield] on your high-yield savings accounts. You may see a little bit more on your CD [certificate of deposit] now,” said certified financial planner Marguerita Cheng , CEO of Blue Ocean Global Wealth and a member of the CNBC Financial Advisor Council. That said, there are some nuances — and varying yields available. In addition to high-yield savings and CDs, investors can stash cash in money market funds and Treasury bills. High-yield savings accounts and CDs are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, while Treasurys are backed by the U.S. government. “It really comes down to: What’s the purpose for the cash [and] how soon do you need it,” Cheng said. “There are a lot of options depending on what your purpose is, your time horizon and your tax bracket.” Also bear in mind that while the income from cash-equivalent investments may seem attractive, inflation can eat away at your return. Chris Gunster, head of fixed income at Fidelis Capital, likes to keep his clients’ cash balances at a minimum. “It’s all about inflation. It’s what you earn after inflation and after taxes. If inflation continues to rise faster than the yields that you’re earning on money market funds, you’re not doing so well,” he said. Here are different options for your cash. T-bills T-bills, securities with a maturity of one year or less, react to the Fed’s rate moves, Gunster pointed out. The most recent yield on bills already issued largely priced in Wednesday’s rate hike ahead of the move. Investors can buy bills on TreasuryDirect.gov in maturities from four to 52 weeks. While any earnings are subject to federal taxes, the income is exempt from state and local taxes. There are also exchange-traded funds focused on bills, such as the iShares 0-3 month Treasury Bond ETF (SGOV) and the SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (BIL). High-yield savings accounts The annual percentage yields in high-yield savings accounts are also typically tied to the federal funds rate, although other factors could weigh in, such as the bank’s deposit demand. Individual institutions make the call on their rates. “Updates from bank management teams this week (not a single bank meaningfully changed their net interest income guidance) and from our meetings suggest that deposit competition is intense, but deposit promotions may have already priced in several additional rate hikes,” Bank of America Securities analyst Ebrahim Poonawala said in a note Tuesday. The high-yield rates are variable, which means investors can’t lock in income when the Fed hikes. Money market funds Money market funds follow the fed funds rate. However, they won’t immediately respond to the central bank’s decision, so investors won’t be able to participate in higher rates as quickly as if they were in T-bills, Gunster said. That said, he prefers money market funds for his clients’ cash. The current annualized seven-day yield on the Crane 100 list of the largest taxable money market funds is 3.79%, as of Tuesday. “Money market funds are easy to do. You will get the increased rate, and even so, with yields where they are, it’s not a bad investment right now,” he said. For those in the highest tax bracket, Gunster believes large, high-quality municipal money market funds are the place to be. The short-term debt held in the funds is issued by state and local governments and the income is exempt from federal income taxes. CD ladders Investors can lock in rates in a certificate of deposit, which means the money stays put for the stated time. Early withdrawals are subject to penalty. The rates are set by the banks, just like those for high-yield savings accounts. A good way to manage CDs is to own several, at varying maturities, known as a ladder, Cheng said. “I don’t want people to tie all their money up for a year,” she said. “You could build a CD ladder with terms as short as six months, or seven months, nine months, and stagger it.” Floating rate assets For those who want to take the search for income a step further, floating-rate funds can be a good idea, Cheng said. That includes funds containing bank loans and collateralized loan obligations. CLOs are pools of floating-rate loans to businesses. Their payouts fluctuate in tandem with shifting short-term interest rates. “I’m not saying that this is a cash replacement … but it’s a good way to ease into having your cash work a little bit harder,” Cheng said. “If you don’t need the income, reinvest. If you need the income, it is taxable, but it does pay a little bit more because it’s always resetting.”

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Warren Buffett is stepping down as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, the sprawling conglomerate worth $1 trillion that he has led since 1965. The 96-year-old legendary investor announced the move in a letter to shareholders Friday.

Buffett will become chairman emeritus, effective immediately, while remaining a director on the board, the company said in a separate announcement. His son, Howard Buffett, will replace him as chairman as dictated by a long-standing succession plan, Berkshire said. Susan Decker will continue as lead independent director.

“Father Time always wins,” wrote Buffett. “He has, however, been generous with me. He has given me the opportunity to see Berkshire reach a point where I am more confident than ever about what lies ahead.”

His decision comes a little more than nine months after Greg Abel, 64, took over as CEO while Buffett retained the chairmanship. Buffett first announced his exit as CEO at Berkshire’s annual meeting in May 2025, shocking the crowd of thousands at the time despite his advanced age.

“The culture Warren built and the values he championed will remain at the heart of Berkshire, and Howard will be their guardian,” said Abel in the company release.

“Greg runs the company; Howard will guard its culture and values – both worth more than anything on our balance sheet,” wrote Buffett. “Think of Howard as a policy the shareholders own and hope never to claim against.”

Buffett’s legacy in building the Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire is unapparelled in corporate America, taking over a failed New England textiles mill at the tender age of 34 and transforming it over the next six decades into a financial and industrial juggernaut with $44.5 billion in operating earnings last year and nearly 400,000 employees. Berkshire under Buffett’s tenure posted a 19.7% compounded annual return to shareholders, nearly double the return of the S&P 500.

Active chairman

As chairman this year, Buffett remained active within the company. Abel told CNBC in March that Buffett was still coming into the Omaha office every day and the CEO still frequently consulted with him.

In May, Buffett attended the company’s celebrated annual meeting, making some brief remarks from his seat and giving an interview with CNBC’s Becky Quick. It was the first “Woodstock for Capitalists” — as the meeting came to be known — not presided over by Buffett, but instead by Abel.

In July, Buffett revealed to CNBC’s that he was the driving force behind Berkshire’s recent big investment in Alphabet. The Google parent is now Berkshire’s third biggest stock holding behind Apple and American Express after a $10 billion private stock purchase in June.

In that same interview, Buffett noted that he had broken his leg a few weeks ago but was recovering.

Buffett acknowledged his growing limitations because of his age as he was getting ready to hand the reins over to Abel last year. In a Thanksgiving letter to shareholders, he wrote, “To my surprise, I generally feel good. Though I move slowly and read with increasing difficulty, I am at the office five days a week.”

In the Friday letter, Buffett joked about it.

“Recently, I celebrated my 96th birthday with family and friends, including one of my great-grandchildren, who had just turned one. He’s moving a bit faster than I am these days,” he wrote.

Berkshire’s 2026 underperformance

Berkshire shares have struggled this year and Buffett’s exit as chairman raises the stakes for Abel further to perform. The stock is up just 1% in 2026 as the S&P 500 has rallied more than 11%. Rising oil prices and investors’ preference for higher growth parts of the market are partly to blame, but shareholders are also waiting to see whether the new CEO can be as adept as Buffett in deploying the firm’s sizable capital.

For now, investors would likely be happy with Abel using some more of the company’s $365.5 billion cash hoard to buy back more Berkshire shares. He has begun to do just that, stepping up repurchases to $4.5 billion in the second quarter.

Berkshire’s largest shareholder praised the job done by Abel so far in his Friday letter: “My expectations for him were sky high from the start, and he has exceeded them.”

“The company is in excellent hands, and I look forward to remaining a shareholder alongside you,” Buffett said in closing.

When reached for comment by CNBC, Abel said: “Warren described in his letter today how his role at Berkshire has been ‘the best job in the world.’ He gave me an extraordinary responsibility – the best job in American business – and then the latitude to lead in a manner consistent with Berkshire’s culture and values. I look forward to continuing to work alongside Warren, with Howard serving as Chairman and Sue as Lead Independent Director, and I am grateful for that opportunity.”

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump warned that he would levy tariffs on the EU or completely stop trade with the bloc if it moves forward with its plan to admit Canada as its first associate member.

Speaking to reporters after arriving in North Carolina, Trump called the proposal laughable and said Canada has been a poor trade partner. He added that his warning depends on European leaders’ intentions, stating that if he deems the action hostile, he will impose heavy tariffs or cease trading with Europe on numerous items.

His comments followed European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s announcement that the EU is opening the way for Canada to become the first associate member of the 27‑nation bloc.

Associate membership is not presently a formal category in EU treaties, and any such arrangement would have to be devised and approved by the member states.

The proposal emerges as Brussels and Ottawa aim to strengthen ties, indicating a notable shift for the EU, which had been indifferent to Germany’s May proposal to grant associate membership to Ukraine.

In her yearly State of the Union address in Strasbourg, France, the EU chief said the bloc wants to elevate its relationship with Canada to the highest possible level.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who was present at the address, has previously said Ottawa wants to pursue a unique security and economic partnership with Europe, though not full membership.

Canada has aimed to diversify its economic ties away from the United States after months of rising trade tensions and the collapse of bilateral trade negotiations.

Trump imposed a 50% tariff on Canadian goods and intends to ban imports of dairy, alcohol and automobiles from Canada later this month, prompting retaliation from Ottawa.

James Lindsay, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, noted that Washington and Ottawa might find a way out of the current trade war, but Canada will keep working to lessen its exposure to U.S. economic pressure.

Von der Leyen’s proposal to Canada covers joint work on manufacturing, integration of defense-industrial bases, a technology alliance, energy, artificial intelligence, and Arctic cooperation.

Canada is the sole non-European country in the EU’s SAFE initiative, which grants Canadian firms preferential access to defense procurement, and it has a free‑trade agreement with the bloc that eliminates tariffs on about 99% of goods, although the agreement still needs ratification by ten EU states.

Any new U.S. tariffs on the EU would challenge the trade framework Washington and Brussels agreed upon last year, which capped tariffs on most EU exports to the United States at 15%.

Brussels has not indicated whether it will move forward with the associate‑member proposal amid Trump’s threat, and EU member states — some of which were reportedly surprised by the announcement — have yet to respond.