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3 CD moves to make with inflation still hot
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Those who were hoping for some relief from inflation were left disappointed this week after the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed January inflation rising 3.1% year over year. While that was an improvement from the 3.4% rise shown in December, it was still a disappointing result, especially considering the Federal Reserve’s target 2% goal.
It also put off — at least for now — any talk of imminent rate cuts. While hope was high that cuts could come as soon as March, it now looks more likely that May will see the first reduction — if inflation cools down enough by that point.
Against this backdrop, many borrowers have limited options due to higher costs for loans. Savers, however, are still in a prime position to earn great returns, at least for the foreseeable future. With this in mind, there are some timely moves those considering a certificate of deposit (CD) account may want to make with inflation still hot.
Start by exploring your CD account options here to see how much more you could be earning.
3 CD moves to make with inflation still hot
Here are three important CD moves to make while inflation is still high.
Get started
If you don’t have a CD set up right now, then the first thing you should do is get started. Whether it’s a short-term or long-term CD is not as important as just opening an account. After all, the average interest rate on a regular savings account right now is just 0.47% while CD rates go as high as 7% for some qualified savers.
This means you’re losing money by leaving your funds untouched in a regular account. Of course, it makes sense to shop around to find an account with the best combination of a high rate and no fees, but even most standard CD accounts — whether online or with your existing bank — will offer better returns for a longer time than a regular savings account can. So don’t wait much longer.
Get started with a top-earning CD here right now.
Consider laddering accounts
An understandable concern in today’s CD market surrounds rates, specifically the timing of opening an account with today’s APYs. Should savers instead wait for the opportunity to open an account with an even higher one or should they just proceed right now? Those with these concerns should do both, actually, by laddering accounts so that they expire at different times.
So, for example, consider opening 3-month and 6-month CDs simultaneously. This can do two things. It will let you immediately earn today’s elevated rates but it won’t lock up your money forever, allowing it to expire relatively quickly, at which point you could (in theory) reinvest it with an account at a higher rate. Just don’t wait for that ideal time because it may not ever present itself.
Mix up account types
CDs are arguably better than savings and high-yield savings accounts because they have higher rates than those latter two account types — and those rates will be locked for the full CD term, regardless of what happens in the overall rate climate. That said, it can be difficult to leave all of your money untouched in a CD (you’ll have to pay an early withdrawal penalty to access it early).
So consider mixing up your account types. Specifically, it may be worth opening both a CD, with its fixed, locked rate, and a high-yield savings account with its competitive rate and freedom to access your funds without penalty.
Learn more about your high-yield savings account options online today.
The bottom line
Stubborn inflation doesn’t have to be fully problematic. There are still ways to take advantage, namely with a high-interest-earning account like a CD. Of course, to earn today’s high CD rates, you’ll need to get started with at least one account, but it may make sense to open two with different expirations. This will allow you to earn today’s high rates while being positioned to earn high rates in the future, as well. And, consider mixing up your funds between a CD and a high-yield savings account, the latter of which can still bring in big returns while still allowing you the same access to your money that a regular savings account does.
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Sen. Mark Kelly says feds need to do a “better job” of letting Americans know “there’s a huge amount of misinformation” on election
Washington — Sen. Mark Kelly said Sunday that the federal government needs to do its part to inform Americans of the vast swath of election misinformation that’s being consumed on social media platforms like X, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram.
“It’s up to us, the people who serve in Congress and in the White House to get the information out there, that there is a tremendous amount of misinformation in this election, and it’s not going to stop on Nov. 5,” Kelly said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”
Kelly, who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he’s seen these misinformation operations target not only his state of Arizona, but also other battleground states.
“There is a very reasonable chance I would put it in the 20 to 30% range, that the content you are seeing, the comments you are seeing, are coming from one of those three countries: Russia, Iran, China,” Kelly said.
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In a committee hearing last month on foreign threats to the 2024 election, Kelly presented screenshots of Russian-made web pages showing fabricated headlines designed to look like Fox News and The Washington Post, targeted at voters in battleground states.
“So my constituents in Arizona and others — they seek to influence the outcome of these elections, and that is absolutely beyond the pale,” Kelly said at the Sept. 18 hearing. “We’ve got to do something about it.”
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump each have the support of 49% of Arizona voters, according to CBS News’ battleground tracker as of Sept. 30.
In another battleground state, Pennsylvania, Trump returned Saturday to hold a rally in Butler three months after an attempted assassination on him. He was joined by members of his own party and billionaire Elon Musk, who said Trump was the only way to preserve democracy and warned of a last election if he does not win in November.
Speaking to CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, Kelly called the social media mogul a hypocrite.
“He’s standing next to the guy that tried to overturn the 2020 election on Jan. 6, saying that this is somehow going to be the last election and they’re going to take away your vote,” Kelly said. “And you know, it just doesn’t pass the logic test.”
At the White House press briefing on Friday, President Biden – speaking from the podium for the first time since taking office – said he’s confident of a free and fair election but alluded to the 2021 insurrection at the Capitol in his concerns on whether it will be a peaceful transfer of power.
“The things that Trump has said and the things that he said last time out when he didn’t like the outcome of the election were very dangerous,” Mr. Biden said. “If you notice, I noticed that the vice-presidential Republican candidate did not say he’d accept the outcome of the election, and they haven’t even accepted the outcome of the last election.”
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