The best CD rates fell by about 20% in 2011. Amazingly, the top nationally available money market account fared even worse.

Last winter, the top MMA paid 1.75% APY. Today, you’ll earn 1.15% APY, a decline of more than a third. (The average MMA rate fell from 0.27% APY to 0.21% APY.)

That may not shock many savers who saw rates slip throughout the year. But there was one added wrinkle that helped to knock down some of the best nationally available accounts. Click here to read more

Mid Missouri Credit Union’s more than 22,000 members should take advantage of its 60-month CD rates.

It’s paying 2.27% APY with a $500 minimum deposit.

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

Suze Orman, the consumer finance guru, has jumped into the prepaid debit card market with
The Approved Card.

Really, she should know better.

It’s not that this is the worst prepaid card on the market. It’s not. It’s not the rip-off that many other celebrity-endorsed debit cards have turned out to be.

But she’s endangered her reputation (based on the online critiques this card has received) on a personal finance product that most people don’t need. Click here to read more

Maryland’s Rosedale Federal Savings and Loan Association beats the Leaderboard with its 60-month CD rates.

It’s paying 2.25% APY with a $500 minimum deposit.

With the top 60-month CD rate on our CD Rates Leaderboard dropping significantly — to 1.95% APY — I’m excited to see community banks like Rosedale Federal and Winter Hill Bank picking up the slack for local savers. Click here to read more

Bank of Internet USA has a free checking account that gives you a bit of control to determine how much interest you’ll earn, up to 1.25% APY.

You’ll earn a slice of that interest pie — 0.3125% APY — for completing each of the following actions:

• Receive direct deposits each month that total $1,000 or more.
• Use online bill pay at least twice per month.
• Use your Visa debit card at least once each month to make a purchase.
• Use your debit card for purchases at least six more times in a month.

Do all of the above, and you’ll earn 1.25% APY in a given month. Click here to read more

How does a bank fall from the top of the CD Rates Leaderboard and yet improve its offer?

Ask CIT Bank.

The online bank has cut both its 12- and 24-month CD rates by a few hundredths of a percentage point, knocking the New York-based institution from the top of the Leaderboard in both terms.

But CIT also added a new 24-month CD to its lineup that will allow you to add money to your account and bump up the rate once during the term (should CD rates increase). It pays 1.26% APY with a $25,000 minimum deposit. Click here to read more

The RushCard, one of the worst prepaid cards on the market, has announced a new savings tool and cash-back rewards program that it says “helps hard-working members who want to budget and save but are finding it difficult to do so with the big banks.”

Don’t be fooled. The card is still a bad deal for consumers and should be avoided. Click here to read more

The top 6-month CD rates on our CD Rates Leaderboard now pay 0.85% APY.

That term rang in 2011 at 1.11% APY and didn’t dip under 1% until October.

But 6-month CDs still performed as bad as any term we track, falling 21% last year.

Here’s hoping 2012 will be a bit better. Click here to read more

A new year is always a time for reflection.

So, I’ve done some reflecting on my CD portfolio.

That portfolio underwent major changes in 2011 — some expected, many not.

With Ben Bernanke at the Fed helm, I anticipated CD rates would continue to drop.

Consequently, I wasn’t shocked that my average yield declined while my average maturity lengthened. Click here to read more