Sales fever has hit the high street over the last week but as well as bargains on clothes and electronics, the new year can also be a good time to grab decent deals on your finances.

A number of banks and building societies have launched new rates on savings accounts, credit cards and mortgages. But these rarely come free of pitfalls, so it is worth paying attention to the small print.

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Money market funds are diversified portfolios that are composed of short-term securities of creditworthy corporations, banks and other financial institutions, and federal, state, and local governments. U.S. Treasury bills and bank certificates of deposit, for example, are common holdings of money market funds.

There are two distinct categories of money market funds. So-called taxable money market funds pay dividends that are subject to federal, and possibly state and local, income taxe