Comments on: Turbocharge Your Savings with Certificate of Deposits (CDs)

By: karla (threadbndr)

karla (threadbndr) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 11:09:46 +0000

I use CDs for two distinct purposes.

One is my “OMG, I lost my job or landed in the hospital” emergency fund. This is seperate from my ’small household/car emergency/vet bill fund (which is actually more of an escrow account, because those expenses will happen, you just don’t know when – that fund is about three months expenses and is at an online savings account). I have 12 laddered CDs comeing mature at approximately one month intervals. They are rolling over and at least keeping up with inflation plus a bit. If I don’t need them, they’ll pad my retirement if I have to retire in a ‘down market’ year.

The other thing I use CDs for is for a large planned future expense. I have a major house upgrade that I’m planning to do in 2012 – that money is parked in a CD waiting for me.

In both cases, the market would be a poor choice as capital preservation is key. I only put money into stocks that I don’t need for at least five years. There’s no one size fits all – you have to choose the investment vehicle that fits your timeframe and risk tolerance.

By: MoneyNing

MoneyNing — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 14:52:48 +0000

I’m actually in the extra same boat – need money within a year to possibly buy a house. I opened a 6-month CD for a good chunk of my savings so I get a higher rate of return.

By: MoneyNing

MoneyNing — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 14:50:31 +0000

$100k by 30 is definitely a very good start. Just keep at it though because you will need much more during retirement.

By: LimPek

LimPek — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 12:48:17 +0000

i hope to have saving money total 100k when reach age 30…do u think it is enough for an adult?

By: imDavidLee

imDavidLee — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 12:47:10 +0000

nowdays i seldom save money into this type of deposit, i more prefer to use my money to invest in diversified fund, do u think better?

By: DDFD @ DivorcedDadFrugalDad

DDFD @ DivorcedDadFrugalDad — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 12:19:07 +0000

I think of CDs as targeted liquidity. Let’s say you have a large purchase in mind a year from now like a car or a house. You may have invested the money for a couple of years to help build it, but now you are getting close to the goal of the purchase. You don’t want that money at risk and you you still want a return– a one year CD is probably the answer.

Like any other financial instrument– a CD is a tool and every tool has a purpose . . . be sure you use the right tool for the right job.

By: Best Savings Account Girl

Best Savings Account Girl — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 23:25:21 +0000

Ohh and I forgot to mention Liquid CD accounts – you can open these ones too. It acts almost like a savings account and you can also withdraw cash out when you need to. Of course you have to leave a certain balance but that’s as good as it gets.

By: Best Savings Account Girl

Best Savings Account Girl — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 23:20:46 +0000

I feel the same way about CDs. I’d rather put my money into an Online Savings Account that has a decent interest rate because I’m able to access the money whenever I need it.

In anycase I’m going to open an online trading account – I’m getting tired of waiting so long to just make a buck.

By: Debbie

Debbie — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 22:20:23 +0000

I love the CD ladder strategy that marci wrote about. Maybe you should write about how that’s done as a follow up to this article.

I think most young people (that’s you included, David) think that CDs are boring but if you think about it, most people who don’t worry too much about money invest in a ton of CDs.

By: marci

marci — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 21:16:47 +0000

Yep – some of my CD’s are still at 5%, which I am very happy with at the moment.

One of the strategies not mentioned if you think you are going to need the money at some specific point in time is laddered CD’s. Take your money and divide it into chunks that meet the minimum (or better) CD deposit requirements. Then stagger the maturity dates so that they mature in 3 month intervals, or 6 months, or at a date when you think you will need the money. Once you get the initial time frames working ok, then set them up for automatic renewals.

When I knew I would need money for the house remodeling/repairs, I set 3 small CD’s up to renew every 3 months, but I set them up at one month intervals to start with. That way, I had a CD that would mature each month and I could draw it out for my cash house repairs as needed, without a penalty. Worked well.

Now that I am thru with that, I have one smaller CD that matures every 6 months, and other CD’s staggered at year and 2 year intervals. And I have a big CD that doesn’t mature til 2015 – nice interest still – at retirement time. It does take some guessing into the future, but then I am not usually in a hurry to spend money and don’t mind waiting for a CD to mature. In case of emergency, I can always write a check and “borrow” against my CD…but only in an emergency.