It just kills me to have to write another post like this, but CD rates declined for the 19th straight month in May.
The average return on all five certificates of deposit we track finished the month lower than they were at the end of April.
Oh, and four of those five average CD rates will enter [...]

A couple of weeks ago we suggested that traditional CD rates are so low, this might be a good time to take a chance on an indexed CD.
The return on indexed or market-linked certificates of deposit isn’t fixed as it is with traditional CDs.
It’s tied to a stock market index like the S&P 500, [...]

If you can deal with all of the rules, you’ll have a tough time finding a better return than Wilshire State Bank is offering on its Rainbow Savings Plan.
This installment savings plan requires you to choose a goal of $1,000, $5,000, $10,000 or $20,000 and decide how much time you want to reach that goal, [...]

We are back to where we were earlier this year, with the best savings accounts paying less than 2%.

Southern Community Bank and Trust continues to offer the top rate through its Readysaver.com Web site.
But it recently cut the return to 1.75% APY, with no minimum deposit to open an account.
That’s what the best savings accounts [...]

A recent comment asked why we don’t provide some indication of a bank’s financial health when we write about them.

The answer is simple: At one time we regularly included Bankrate’s “Safe & Sound” ratings in our posts. But we didn’t get much love from our readers.
In fact, they said that everyone knows that many of [...]

With interest rates on traditional CDs so low, why not take a chance on an indexed CD?
By taking a chance, we don’t mean taking a chance with your principal.
That’s still FDIC insured.
We mean take a chance on how much you might — or might not — earn.
The return on indexed or market-linked CDs isn’t fixed [...]

A growing number of banks are promoting “rising rate” CDs, which allow savers to boost their return if interest rates go up.
They’re playing to fears that anyone who locks in a long-term rate now will suffer when the Federal Reserve finally starts pushing interest rates back up.
Unfortunately, most of ones we’ve looked at aren’t very [...]

Just over a year ago banks flooded the market with high-yield or reward checking accounts.

Although the best ones paid 5% or more, we had to wonder whether these variable-rate accounts would quickly crater.
So we went back and checked how much the nationally available high-yield checking accounts that we wrote about last spring are paying today.
With [...]

Christmas Clubs aren’t known for their great rates. But we were still shocked to find a credit union in Chicago’s western suburbs that actually pays nothing at all.

Members who want to save for the holidays at NorthStar Credit Union earn 0% on balances below $1,000. (The return increases to 0.20% on balances above $1,000, which [...]

Southern Community Bank and Trust leads our rankings of the best nationally available savings accounts for the second straight month.

The bank, which has 20 branches in North Carolina, continues to pay 2.00% APY, with no minimum balance, through its Readysaver.com Web site.
That’s considerably better than the 0.15% APY Southern Community is offering on savings accounts [...]

Flushing Savings Bank in New York has caught our eye with oldest gimmick in the book — free gifts for opening an account.

To qualify, you must buy a certificate of deposit from its iGObanking online bank, through a special GiftsforBanking.com Web site.
The best choices are 24-month CD at 1.90% APY or a 60-month CD at [...]

You may have heard that Sallie Mae’s getting into the banking business.
But will its new savings accounts and CDs catch on?
First, the yields aren’t that great — and already being cut.
When Sallie Mae introduced its savings accounts in early March, it was paying 1.35% APY. Now it’s paying 1.25% APY.
Although that’s still above an [...]

Although rates on our favorite home equity lines of credit have edged up since December, they’re still the cheapest consumer loans you can get.

If you have 30% to 40% equity in your home and good credit you should be able to find a HELOC for under 5% APR. In some areas of the country, you [...]

Here’s another long-term CD with such a small early withdrawal penalty it’s a better bet than the top-paying short-term CDs.

It’s Ally Bank’s 5-year certificate of deposit.
We got into this discussion last week, when we looked at whether the three best 5-year CDs could be gamed to out-earn the best 12- or 24-month CDs.
We found the [...]

We’re adding the high-yield checking account at Danversbank to our list of favorites.

It’s paying 4.01% APY on balances up to $25,000 — a rate that’s almost impossible to find these days, even on 7-year CDs — with free ATM use and no monthly fees.
Although the rate on these accounts is always variable, Danversbank hasn’t changed [...]

A couple of months ago we advised against buying long-term CDs at the bottom of a rate cycle.

The common wisdom is to go long at the top of a rate cycle and short at the bottom.
Some of our readers disagreed with that strategy.
“You can usually go for the longest term to lock in [...]

Let’s see if we can take some of the anxiety out of deciding whether it’s smart to convert your traditional IRA to Roth IRAs this year.
It’s a good move for younger savers who are a long way from retirement and can expect to be making more in retirement than they are in their late ’20s [...]

Less than two weeks ago we scoured the country to find the top-paying savings accounts.

But three of the five rates have already been cut, including the top two.
That sent us back to work and we’re pleased to report that we’ve found four new deals that are actually better than the ones they replace.
These offers clearly [...]

It’s come to this.
U.S. savings bonds — yeah, savings bonds — have become a better investment than most CDs.
Series I Bonds are paying 3.36%, which is more than the best, nationally available 6-month, 12-month, 24-month and even 36-month certificates of deposit.
Indeed, only a few top-paying 5-year CDs can beat that return.
Although the interest rate on [...]

Is this the wave of the future?
The new Electric Orange checking account from ING Direct doesn’t come with checks.
It’s the closest thing to a truly paperless checking account we’ve ever seen.
The online bank owned by the Dutch financial giant ING allows customers to access their money through:

A debit card.
An online bill payment system.
Person2Person electronic transfers, [...]

With interest rates this low, you need to make the most of every opportunity to boost the return on your savings.
That means taking advantage of your bank’s “relationship” rates.
In most instances, that’s where checking account customers are offered higher interest rates on savings accounts or certificates of deposits.
Some relationship deals don’t make you feel all [...]

You can earn far more from a top-paying savings account than you can from most short-term CDs.

The average return on 12-month certificates of deposit has fallen to a measly 0.77% APY, and the average return on 24-month CDs has plunged to 1.19% APY.
But Colorado Federal Savings Bank is paying 1.70% APY on its savings [...]

It’s come to this: The biggest banks are paying nothing for our savings.
Or at least nothing for the money we put in our savings accounts.
Here’s the return the four largest banks are now offering on their regular savings accounts:
Bank of America: 0.10% on all balances
Wells Fargo: 0.05% on balances up to $25,000
Citi: 0.25% with a [...]

Flagstar Bank has been doing some really strange stuff with its 36-month CDs.
For much of the fall it was promoting quite a good rate on its Web site: 3.00% APY, with a minimum deposit of only $500.
At one point that would have been good enough to top our rankings of the best 36-month certificates of [...]

We usually write about where to find the best CD rates.
But today we’re going to focus on where to find the worst deals.

We’re talking truly wretched rates such as 0.15% APY on a 6-month CD, or 0.25% APY for a 12-month CD.
Those are the kinds of deals you’ll find these days at the [...]

Are all the “Real Housewives” on Bravo’s reality shows as rich as they seem, or are some living way beyond their means?
We regularly see these outspoken women from Orange County, Calif., New York, New Jersey and Atlanta shoulder the burden of wealth as they frequent only the best shops, restaurants and spas.
But over the past [...]

Hire a contractor — not a home inspector — to examine any house you’re thinking about buying.

You just can’t count on them to tell you what’s wrong with a home because of the three dirty little secrets about the home inspection business:
Dirty Little Secret 1. The great majority of home inspectors depend on real estate [...]

Hybrids almost always cost more than comparable, conventionally powered models.
But the Toyota Camry Hybrid will save enough in gas to recoup that extra cost in well under two years, which makes it an excellent deal.

Indeed, we can’t understand why anyone would buy a Camry without the gas-saving, environment-friendly hybrid powertrain.
Unfortunately, we can’t say the same [...]

Bank of the West is paying a $100 bonus for opening a new checking account.
Although the offer is available nationwide, we wouldn’t recommend it to anyone outside the 20 states where Bank of the West has more than 700 branches.
That’s because it doesn’t provide free use of ATMs at other banks — a great perk [...]

With CD and savings account rates plunging to record lows every week, it may be the time to consider a more lucrative alternative — social or peer-to-peer lending.
This is where you loan money directly to worthy borrowers through a Web site, rather than putting your money in a bank and allowing its loan officers to [...]