CDs
- 0.48% (1-year CD yields)
- 1.61% (5-year CD yields)
Here's a look at the state of CD rates from Bankrate.com's weekly national survey of large banks and thrifts conducted Feb. 9, 2011.
CD rates are utterly unchanged from last week's survey.
That puts the average yield on a one-year CD at 0.48 percent for the eighth week in a row. The yield on a typical five-year CD yield is 1.61 percent.
The average yield on a one-year jumbo CD is 0.53 percent. The yield on a five-year jumbo CD is 1.63 percent.
The average money market account yield is 0.18 percent for the fourth week in a row.
With a little strategic planning, a CD buyer can get higher yields while maintaining enough liquidity to reinvest in rising interest rates. It's called a CD ladder.
Recently, the risk of rising interest rates kept many investors from venturing too far out in maturity but as expectations of rising inflation increase, investors may want to consider an extension ladder.
In this week's column, Bankrate's Dr. Don Taylor explained the concept to an investor with a two-year CD ladder.
"As the implied inflation rates head higher, you would start extending the maximum maturity from two years out to longer maturities," he wrote.
To learn more about CD ladders, read "How to ladder a CD portfolio."
Check Bankrate's rate tables for high-yield CDs and high-yield money market accounts.
All deposit products listed with Bankrate are FDIC-insured.
-- Sheyna Steiner