Direct banking is a great way to turbocharge your savings account. Direct bank providers tend to offer significantly higher interest rates than your local bank. They are able to offer better rates of return because they don’t have physical branch locations and all of your transactions are done online, by phone, or by mail. This reduces their overhead and operational costs, which they pass on to their customers in the form of higher interest rates on deposits.

I compared Emigrant Direct, ING Direct, and HSBC Direct when I was setting up my account. At the time, HSBC was offering the best rate, so that’s who I went with. They were offering over 5% APY when I signed up, but that number changes frequently, so check with each of these banks, and others, to see which one offers the best rate now.

Most companies that offer 401K plans to their employees also offer some kind of company matching. They may give you a dollar for dollar match, a 50 cents on the dollar match, or similar up to a certain percentage.

Whatever amount you contribute to you 401K, you should contribute at least enough to get the full company match. This match is basically free money that can add significantly to your portfolio gains. Imagine you put $1000 into your 401K and your company matched 50%. The match could make up for otherwise poor performance. Even if your portfolio didn’t appreciate over the course of a year, on your investment of $1000, your account would be worth $1500 thanks to the match, which amounts to a sizable 50% gain.

If the portfolio did appreciate, the gain would be even larger. The extra funds from your company match will continue to grow as the interest compounds between now and when you make withdrawals at retirement. There may be no such thing as a free lunch, but company matching is about as close as you can get.