This page is for those who have a little cash left and need a safe place to park some money and earn a little interest in the process. The U.S. Government, with the help of their massive money printing presses, no longer offers reasonable interest rates to the average citizen for Treasury items. Responsible savers are being driven from the Treasury market into CDs in order to get any return at all on their money. This is, in deed, a sad event for those who have been prudent and responsible in their saving and use of money.

One of the best on-line listing of interest rates of all types is Bankrate.com. To get the widest possible choice of rates, one needs to be prepared to do on-line banking. Because there are no standards in this area and every financial organization is allowed to do their own thing, it can be a major challenge to find a suitable institution to do business with. The Bank Rate site also provides a "Star" rating for each institution which can be helpful in weeding out the deadbeats from the responsible organizations. The Bank Rate site does accept advertising so don't be swayed by flashy advertisements on the site.

Please be aware of the links to the right regarding fraud and tips when buying CDs. My advice is to stay away from brokers and deal directly with the organization offering the CD. The FDIC site lists organizations along with their respective FDIC certificate number. You, of course, need to watch the amount invested relative to each certificate number to be sure you do not exceed FDIC insurance limits. Detailed information on each institution can be found at this site based on Certificate Number or name and location.

The best advice I can offer here is don't use Windows® software products. Please visit my Windows® site to see the dangers posed by the use of Microsoft® softrware. I also recommend that you not use on-line banking with organizations that only offer support for Windows® products. One of the best sites out there for support of on-line functions is the Discover® bank site. This is an endorsement of their software expertise not necessarily the safety of their institution. They provide a practice (Demo) section where you can verify that your software and hardware configuration will work with their systems. Many if not most other institutions assume your are going to use Internet Explorer® and Windows® which I absolutely do not advise using.

I'm amazed at the lack of technical expertise some of these banks have. Giant Bank, for example, advertises on-line banking but will only accept FAX'd or mailed applications along with a wire transfer or a mailed check to fund the account. Wire transfers generally cost in the range of $20.00 each. Other organizations support the on-line submittal of the account application along with the electronic routing (not wire transfer) of funds into the account. If you have an absolutely secure PC operating system and a secure connection (fully encrypted), I would recommend doing as much as possible electronically.

Many on-line banks will not respond to e-mails. They claim that e-mails are not secure and in the same breath claim their on-line banking is secure. I suggest always using a fully encrypted and secure e-mail system such as the Google Gmail system. Details of how this system works can be found here. Claims by banks that e-mails are not secure should be ignored and their banks avoided. Never ever depend on what you are told verbally. Always get it in writing.

• Bank Safety Rating
• What is a CD?
• CD Fraud Site
• Treasury Yeilds
• CD Tips
• Veribanc.com
• BankRate.com
• Bauer Financial Ratings
• BanxQuote Site
• Bank Implode Site
• Discover Bank
• Advanta Bank

• GMAC Bank
• Nationwide
• Capital One