The week's best financial advice

Here are three of the week's top pieces of financial advice, gathered from around the web:

Finding high-yield savings accounts

Consumers looking to get a better return on their savings must be willing "to jump through some hoops," said Ann Carrns at The New York Times. The average money market account yields 0.11 percent, but there are higher-paying options out there. The average interest for high-yield checking accounts at 56 banks and credit unions was 1.65 percent, according to Bankrate. Nearly a dozen yielded 2 percent or more. The catch: Only about half of those are available nationally, "and all come with lots of strings attached." Most require direct deposit and at least 10 debit transactions per month. Others require online bill pay or electronic statements. Some also limit the balance amount that can earn the higher rate, with caps as low as $500 to a high of $25,000.

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Wall Street speeds up settlements

Anybody who has bought or sold stock knows it takes seemingly forever to get the cash, said Jason Zweig at The Wall Street Journal. Right now, the Securities and Exchange Commission requires that all stock trades "settle" within three business days. But starting Sept. 5, 2017, a coalition of financial firms and other industry bigwigs have agreed to begin settling trades within two days. Oddly enough, trades settled faster in the horse-and-buggy days of Wall Street, powered by messenger boys "lugging sacks of gold, bank checks, and stock and bond certificates" to cashier windows at Manhattan banks. Overnight settlement was standard practice until 1938. For now, if you need your money sooner than in three days, just ask. Many brokerage firms will honor such requests.

Pitfalls of paying off debt

"For many people, paying off debts early isn't the no-brainer you might think it is," said Geoff Williams at US News. The pros of paying off debt are obvious: You'll avoid interest payments and free up money to spend on other things. The negatives aren't as clear, but they definitely exist. "Debt can have a bright side." It helps build credit history and, in the case of student loans or mortgage debt, may come with a tax deduction. And remember that even if you pay off a big debt, you might be "starving a different fund" in the process. Erasing high-interest debts like credit cards is almost always advisable, but could you have put the money used to, say, eliminate a home loan to better use? You might have invested it or added to your retirement savings for greater effect.