At our mortgage company (and probably others) you can stop the escrow collection after you’ve paid 20% of the principal. (Although there is a (0.025% x principal) charge to do so…but you’d make that and more back in interest.) The escrow is the money the mortgage company collects to pay your property taxes and home insurance for you at the end of the year. If you have the discipline to collect the money for the end of the year and pay this stuff yourself, you can earn interest on that money during the year. As far as a place to earn interest, HSBC is an online bank with a 5% savings account, which is pretty good as such things go.