A small bank in suburban St. Louis now has the best 3-month CD rates.

Fortune Bank, which has a single branch in Arnold, is paying 1.25% APY with a minimum deposit of $1,000.

That’s less than half of the 2.55% APY TotalBank in Miami was paying when it jumped to the top of our rankings of 3-month CD rates last June.

Even though that return fell to 1.85%, then to 1.65%, and finally 1.40% in mid-January, TotalBank continued to offer the best deal for an incredible seven months because other banks were cutting their rates even faster.

But when it cut its rate to 1.10% APY on Feb. 1, TotalBank fell out of our rankings.

Kudos on the great run. Most banks offer the best rates in the country for a few weeks. Maybe a month. And we didn’t receive a single complaint about TotalBank’s customer service during the time it was on top.

Four banks are tied for second place, with each offering 1.14% APY on nationally available 3-month certificates of deposit. They are:

Nexity Bank, headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., with four banking offices in Georgia and North and South Carolina. A $1,000 minimum deposit is required.

UFB Direct, requires a minimum deposit of $8,000. CDs sold at this Web site actually come from Waterfield Bank, which has a couple of full-service offices in Carmel, Ind., and Germantown, Md.

Golf Savings Bank, based in Mountlake Terrace, Wash., has 38 branches in Washington, Montana, Idaho and Oregon. A $10,000 minimum deposit is required.

Excel National Bank a single-location bank in Beverly Hills, Calif., requires a $10,000 minimum deposit.

Use our database of CD rates to compare these rates with the best deals from scores of other banks.

Here’s an interesting way to be rewarded for using less natural gas, electricity and water.

A new Web site called Earth Aid tracks your utility bills to see if you’re consuming less energy and water than you did a year earlier.

If you are, you earn points that can be redeemed for discounts at local merchants. In my area, for example, breweries, restaurants, bars, salons, spas and even hotels are taking part.

The program is free and can automatically accesses your utility records, so you don’t have to enter any data or submit any bills to verify that information.

The only drawback is the Earth Aid is still building its reward network. Some cities, such as Washington, D.C., have lots of participants. Others don’t.

But founder Ben Bixby expects to announce Earth Aid’s first national partners in a few weeks. So even if there aren’t any nearby stores or restaurants to redeem your points, you’ll still be able to cash in for cutting back.

February’s here, and that means it’s time to start thinking about filing your 2009 taxes.

If you have questions, or are looking for federal tax forms, here’s how to contact the Internal Revenue Service:

On the Internet: irs.gov has instructions and information on every tax topic, publication, and form. You can research questions, order forms and publications, view IRS bulletins and use interactive tools for making certain calculations.

By phone: Call 1-800-829-1040, or 1-800-829-4059 if you’re hearing impaired. Lines are open from 7:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. local time (Alaska and Hawaii follow Pacific time).

But if you call, be prepared to wait.

According to the National Taxpayer Advocate’s annual report, the IRS is swamped and hasn’t been able to keep up with the demand for information about new stimulus-related tax credits and deductions.

The IRS expects wait times will average 12 minutes and only 70% of people who call remain on hold long enough to talk to an agent.

In person: The IRS Web site will also locate the IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center nearest you.

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 account and we’ve found four others paying at least 1.50% APY.

The downside of savings accounts is that their rates are always variable, so they can drop at any time.

But there’s no long-term commitment, so if you become disenchanted with your rate, you can always withdraw your money and move on.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST.

The future of credit cards is almost here.

The Citi Forward Visa card is probably what it looks like. At least on a good day.

Everything changes on Feb. 22, when most of the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 takes effect.

It bans many of the industry’s most abusive practices, and card companies have been acting out ever since it was passed — jacking up rates, slashing credit limits, raising fees and imposing tough new repayment terms.

That has turned the Forward card, which was a good but not outstanding offer when it was introduced last spring, into one of the better deals of this brave new world.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST.

The last bank offering 2.00% APY on a 12-month CD, Franklin Synergy Bank, dropped its yield to 1.90% APY today.

This is the first time we can recall that savers can’t earn a measly 2% on a nationally available 12-month certificate of deposit.

Two other banks offering 1.90% APY are:

The Palladian Private Bank, based in Chicago with 34 locations in 10 states. A minimum deposit of $10,000 is required.

Doral Bank Direct an online bank based in New York City. A $1,000 minimum deposit is required.

Compare these returns with the best CD rates from scores of other banks in our extensive database.

Here’s our mid-week rundown of the best, nationally available CD rates based on our current rankings.

3-month CDs: 1.25% APY from Fortune Bank with a $1,000 minimum deposit.

6-month CDs: 1.60% APY from Country Bank with a $500 minimum deposit.

12-month: 2.00% APY from Franklin Synergy Bank with a $1,000 minimum deposit.

24-month CDs: 2.30% APY from Atlantic Coast Bank with a $1,000 minimum deposit, or
Hudson City Bank with a $5,000 minimum deposit. (If you live in New Jersey, New York or Connecticut, your minimum is $500.)

36-month CDs: 2.80% APY from Hudson City Bank with a $5,000 minimum deposit. Locals pay $500.

Click here to see how much you can earn with these rates using our certificate of deposit calculator.

At the end of last year, six banks were paying 2.00% APY on 12-month CDs.

Now there’s one. (And it isn’t one of the half-dozen banks that topped our December rankings.)

Franklin Synergy Bank, with two branches in Franklin, Tenn., and a $1,000 minimum deposit, is the new leader.

Other top rates for nationally available 12-month CDs are:

1.90% APY from The Palladian Private Bank in Chicago. A $10,000 minimum deposit is required.

1.90% APY from Doral Bank Direct in New York City. It is the operating name for online banking services, owned by Doral Financial Corp. A $1,000 minimum deposit is required.

1.86% APY from UFB Direct, with a minimum deposit of $8,000 required. CDs sold at this Web site actually come from Waterfield Bank, which has a couple of full-service offices in Carmel, Ind., and Germantown, Md.

Click here to see how much you can earn with these rates using our certificate of deposit calculator.

We wish we could call a bottom to this punishing slide, but there’s no reason to expect rates will stabilize this month.

Just last September the average return for 12-month CDs slipped below 1% for the first time since Bankrate began tracking those rates in October 1983.

Now it’s at 0.76% APY after declining for the 15th straight month in January.

Hey, E*Trade baby, here’s something worthy of your best “shocked face.”

Last April we called E*Trade out for offering ridiculously low rates on its 12-month to 24-month CDs.

Little did we know that the discount brokerage had just begun to slash its returns.

Here are the waaayyy below average rates E*Trade is now offering on what it claims to be “High-Yield” certificates of deposit:

3-Month CD: 0.01% APY

6-Month CD: 0.05% APY

1-Year CD: 0.10% APY

5-Year CD: 1.10% APY

From top to bottom, these are about the worst rates anyone is offering. (Yeah, even worse than Chase.)

Since no one in their right mind would buy one of these CDs, we can only figure that E*Trade is trying to take advantage of customers who aren’t paying attention and allow maturing CDs to automatically rollover.

Clearly it’s time for anyone in that position to take E*Trade’s advice, “take control” of their investments, and dump these dogs.

Click here if you haven’t seen the latest E*Trade commercials.