CDs
Rates: 6.95 percent (60-month, new car); 7.68 percent (36-month, used car)You didn't really expect the news to be any better this week, did you?
CD yields continue getting battered in this ugly, ugly economic climate. The average yield for a one-year CD, as surveyed by Bankrate.com, dropped 4 basis points this week to 1.75 percent. The average five-year yield now stands at 2.53 percent, down 9 basis points. For the jumbos, the numbers came in at 1.85 percent on the one-year and 2.55 percent on the five-year, down 7 basis points and 8 basis points respectively. A basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point.
Savers have been hit hard for more than a year and now the yields are falling faster as everyone else piles into FDIC or government-backed investments.
Even the high-yield CDs are showing wear and tear. One-year CDs, that routinely sported yields above 3 percent just a couple weeks ago, are now slipping rapidly below that level. Nevertheless, a few institutions are still paying 3 percent, so visit our high-yield CD database and see what's available.
The average yield for money market accounts slipped 1 basis point to 0.58 percent. It's a lot easier, in this category, to find significantly better rates. Our high-yield money market database is populated by many banks offering 2.5 percent to 3 percent or better. You sacrifice the guaranteed rate but, on the other hand, you have liquidity. All deposit accounts on Bankrate are FDIC insured.
-- Laura Bruce