The pain is back. The one-year CDs took a major hit this week as the standard CD lost 14 basis points and now sits at 2.19 percent; while the jumbo dropped 17 basis points and is down to 2.37 percent.

Five-year CDs fared better, with the standard five-year shedding 5 basis points and the jumbo knocking off 3 basis points to 2.89 percent and 2.99 percent, respectively.

The banks may want to push you toward buying the five-year, but accepting less than 3 percent for five years is a poor deal. An important thing to remember here is that these numbers probably aren't reflecting the latest cut, 75 basis points, by the Fed. We should get a better gauge of that impact next week.

If you're buying CDs with these yields that are wiped out by inflation, perhaps you really don't care about returns; you're just looking for safety. But better deals can be found among high-yield options.

-- Laura Bruce

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