Certificates of Deposit (CDs)
and High-Yield Savings Accounts

Credit unions have weathered the financial storms of recent months well. If you can join one, it's a great idea to buy a CD with a credit union (a CD at a credit union is called a share certificate.)

The situation with Certificates of Deposit (CD's) is no better.

The reason for the lousy rates is quite simple: the Federal Reserve is currently letting banks borrow at no more than 0.25%. So, if a bank can borrow at 0.25% -- which is the current fed funds target rate -- why would it borrow money from you at 5% via a savings account or a CD? That's the gist of it. This is why CD and savings-account rates rise as fall in tandem with the target fed funds rate, the Fed's most important monetary policy tool.

So the big question is: when will savings rates start to rise?

The answer, unfortunately, is not any time soon. Any experienced rate watcher will tell you that the Fed is going to keep the benchmark fed funds target rate at 0%-0.25% for the rest of the year, and probably well into 2011. The fed funds futures market, a very good predictor of where interest rates are headed, is currently 100% certain that the Fed will keep short-term rates at record low levels for the rest of 2010.

Who's to blame? Why, the Great Recession, of course. The Fed can't raise rates while unemployment is high, economic growth is weak and the very real threat of deflation persists. Moreover, many seasoned economists believe that the very recent Great Recession will soon become the Great Double-Dip Recession.

The Fed is just as frustrated as the unnumbered folks around the country trying to find stronger yields for their hard-earned savings. The Federal Reserve is currently dealing with what's called a liquidity trap. It has lowered rates as much as it can, and has pumped massive amounts of new cash into the economy. Despite these actions, the economy is still not expanding in a sustainable way. That's the trap. It's the same trap that has kept Japanese central bankers scratching their heads in frustration since the 1990's.

And if you think you might do better with US Treasury securities, think again. The Fed has been pumping many billions into Treasury securities, thus driving the yields associated with these super-safe investments down. This not only keeps mortgage rates low, which is good for the languishing housing market, but it also makes Treasuries less appealing to investors. To help bolster the anemic US economy, the Fed would much rather prod Wall Street to put its money into riskier investments like stocks and corporate securities, which aren't as safe as Treasuries but do offer higher yields. The Fed wants your 401K to look like it did back in 2006, which would certainly help to make you and millions of other American feels prosperous again.

So what is the responsible saver to do?

The best course of action a money-savvy American can take is to simply continue to scan the Internet for the best available rates on CD's and online savings accounts. Definitely not a good idea to lock up a significant amount of cash for 3 or 5 years. Best to stick with 6 to 12 month CD's while yields are low. There are lots of easy-to-find blogs out there that report on the latest and greatest rates from around the country.