Compare
CD rates nationally and in your area.
CDs
- 0.39% (1-year CD yields)
- 1.34% (5-year CD yields)
CD rates stood mercifully still in this week's rate survey.
The average one-year certificate of deposit yield is flat at 0.39 percent. The average five-year CD yield remains at 1.34 percent. For deposits of $100,000, the average one-year jumbo CD yield is unchanged at 0.42 percent. The five-year yield is flat at 1.38 percent.
For money market accounts, the average yield is 0.15 percent.
The Federal Reserve may be responsible for putting people back to work but not because monetary policy is creating more jobs. Instead, retired Americans are finding they need to work to supplement interest income from savings.
On Tuesday, The Tennessean ran the story "Feds' Zero Interest Rates Burn Savers," which highlighted the struggles of some retirees living on a fixed income. That includes one 82-year-old who became a landlord when he could no longer live off of savings. The cost of living is increasing, but interest income for those on a fixed budget has been steadily decreasing.
Short-term interest rates have been near zero since December 2008. The federal funds rate set by the Fed has a direct impact on the interest rate banks pay on CDs and savings accounts, which are very low at this point.