Let’s assume you’ve already paid off your holiday bills.

That means it’s time to start thinking about next Christmas.

Is a holiday savings account right for you? It depends. Click here to read more

D.C.-area savers will find a trio of strong CD rates at 1st Commonwealth Bank of Virginia.

With $1,000 minimum deposit, it’s paying:

• 1.40% APY for 24-month CDs.
• 1.75% APY for 36-month CDs
• 2.25% APY for 60-month CDs.

All easily beat the top nationally available CD rates for their terms on our CD Rates Leaderboard — the 60-month CD rate by nearly a third of a percentage point, the 36-month CD rate by a fifth. Click here to read more

CD rates for the 3-month term are topping out at just 0.60% APY these days.

Not that they’ve been good in ages — that term didn’t break 1% on our CD Rates Leaderboard during all of 2011.

And the current average annual yield offered by large banks and thrifts for 3-month CDs remains a record low 0.15%. Click here to read more

Seattle-based Washington Federal has 60-month CD rates that certainly aren’t typical for a big bank.

It’s paying 2.25% APY with a $1,000 minimum deposit or $500 for minors.

That’s nearly a third of a percentage point better than the best nationally available 60-month CD rates on our CD Rates Leaderboard. Click here to read more

Salem Five Direct has a double bonus: It’s raised its savings rate and guaranteed that rate through summer’s end.

The online division of Salem Five Bank in Salem, Mass., bumped its eOne Savings Account rate from 0.85% APY to 1.00% APY.

This rate is good through August on new accounts. Customers with existing savings accounts or branch bank checking accounts are not eligible. Click here to read more

Earlier this month, we crossed a once unthinkable threshold when the top 60-month bank CD rates fell below 2%.

The top deal on our CD Rates Leaderboard now pays just 1.95% APY.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t find better CD rates. Click here to read more

With CD rates continuing to drop, I’m considering different strategies for redeploying maturing deposits.

One is buying long-term callable CDs and federal agency obligations.

These instruments are subject to early redemption, at face value, at the issuer’s (but, sadly, not the holder’s) option.

So you can earn a higher interest rate when compared with, for example, government-insured certificates of deposit with the same term.

But interest-rate risk is shifted entirely to the investor. Click here to read more

What the Federal Reserve said Wednesday shouldn’t come as a surprise.

Ben Bernanke and company telegraphed it for weeks.

But that doesn’t make the words hurt any less: The Fed expects to keep interest rates at record low levels “at least through late 2014″ in an effort to boost an economy still hurting from the 2008 recession. Click here to read more

Capital One Bank’s free checking account pays a healthy rate and guarantees it for a year. But how much you can earn depends on where you live.

Those who live near a branch earn a rate that rivals the best nationally available savings accounts with the High Yield Free Checking account, provided they keep at least $5,000 on deposit at Capital One.

The bank’s Interest Online Checking account, for consumers who don’t live near a Capital One branch, pays a lower rate but has no balance requirements. Click here to read more