If you are like many investors you have at least taken a peak at a Certificate of Deposit, or a CD, in the past few weeks. A CD is a great way to earn some interest on your investment while being backed fully by the FDIC. Currently the FDIC is insuring up to $250,000 worth of bank deposits at any one banking institution. This guarantee applies to things like CD’s as well as money market savings accounts, but not things like stocks or mutual funds.

Many people are looking to get a little bit extra out of the hard earned money that they have saved up, but they are unwilling to put any in the market because of its dreadful performance. A CD is a great place to look, but I suggest that you go ahead and get those CD’s taken care of now, before the yields go even lower. The best way to check the average yield for CD’s is to head over to Bankrate.com, where they have an excellent tool that tracks the overnight averages for CD rates nationwide. Today the nationwide average for a one year CD is 3.42%, a week ago it was 3.46%. The trend is for CD rates to go lower and I do not expect that trend to turn anytime soon, at least until the economy turns around from the severe downturn it is currently in.

With the Federal Reserve expected to cut rates even further, possibly to as low as 0%, banks simply won’t be able to offer CD’s yielding the amounts they are right now. I highly suggest looking around for some of the best CD rates in your area and lock in your investment in a high-yielding CD that looks attractive to you. Chances are, the rates you are seeing right now are the best you will see for quite some time!

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