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. 2, 2011.
CD rates were mixed in this week's survey, but tilting upward.
For the seventh week in a row, the yield on an average one-year CD is 0.48 percent. The average five-year CD yield is up 2 basis points to 1.61 percent.
For deposits of about $100,000, the typical one-year jumbo CD will yield 0.53 percent. The five-year jumbo CD yield is up 3 basis points to 1.63 percent.
The average money market account yield remains 0.18 percent for the third consecutive week.
Investors worn down by dismal CD rates may be tempted by more exotic CD offerings to boost yields. But, as Bankrate contributor Constance Gustke writes in "5 high-yielding, but risky CDs," products such as offshore CDs can be dangerous.
In 2009, Allen Stanford was arrested for conducting a long-running Ponzi scheme, selling fake CDs from his bank based in Antigua. But scams aren't the only way investors can lose their shirts investing in offshore CDs.
Buying CDs from institutions not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. can be risky, even if the investment is backed by a legitimate foreign bank. If the bank goes under, investors have no guarantee of getting their money back.
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