What to do with your hard earned savings now that the hard times are in? Invest or deposit it in a bank in the form of Certificate of Deposit otherwise known as CD? With the uncertainty high based on the severity of the financial meltdown, investing your money in business is a very risky proposition. Placing your money in banks as CD is the safest way.



A CD is commonly called "time deposit". It is similar to your ordinary savings account except that you can't withdraw it easily. A CD have fixed terms or duration where you have to keep your money in the bank. The common term is 3 months but some offer up to 5 years. During these times, you can't withdraw your money, but you are guaranteed to earn fixed interest rates. This service is offered by banks, thrift institutions, and credit unions. Your deposit is safe as it is insured by the government through FDIC's, up to 50 million USD.

Based on the current situation it is very likely that banks will be increasing the interest rates. Why? Because banks need to accumulate cash, with people low on money they need to offer competitive rates in order to entice people to deposit. That being the case, you'll find it difficult to find the best CD rates currently offered, with the tons and tons of information you have to filter and consider. There are many financial websites that can help you on this as the sites collect and organize all the current promotional rates of banks. Just browse through their bank reviews which were made for your convenience.

Consider this example you might find on the internet:

“First Command Bank is offering one of the best CD rates for a 12 month CD, the CD rate for balances $10,000 and up is 3.93% and the APY is 4.00%. Balances under $10,000 receive an interest rate of 3.90% and a yield of 3.95%.”

If you're not well informed you might consider this as a great deal. But this one might be the best CD rate:

“Dime Direct is offering a promotional 6 month CD that yields 5.00%. To qualify for this promo CD rate you will need to open a Prime Dime Checking Account. The offer is only available in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. The minimum opening deposit for the CD account is $500 and the maximum deposit is $100,000”.

Now that's way higher than the average rate being offered. Both of the information can be found at Monitor Bank Rates. That's how comprehensive the reviews are in their site. The information provides balanced views of the promotions such that it's easy for you to decide which one is best.

Aside from this, financial sites also have online calculators for CD's. These calculators will help you determine how much interest you can earn on a CD. The calculators are very easy to use; you just need to input few values. To determine the amount of interest you will be paid on the CD, just enter the CD deposit amount, the term of the CD, the CD interest rate and how interest will be compounded and viola you have the amount.