Ascencia, a division of PBI bank, offers a good return of 1.63 percent APY on its 6-month CD, based on a 1.62 percent return compounded monthly.

For an initial deposit the minimum is $500 and the maximum $250,000. All accounts are protected for up to $250,000. An extension of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, which increase deposit protection from $100,000 to $250,000 per depositor has now been extended to December 31, 2013 by Congress, and all CD accounts a Ascencia fall under those guidelines.

Here are some of the other CD rate offered at different maturities by Ascencia. All of these have a $500 minimum on the initial deposit and a maximum of $250,000.

1 Year CD (12 Months) 1.98% with a 2.00% APY
2 Year CD (24 Months) 1.98% with a 2.00% APY
2.5 Year CD (30 Months) 1.98% with a 2.00% APY  
3 Year CD (36 Months) 1.98% with a 2.00% APY 
5 Year CD (60 Months)  2.25% with a 2.27% APY

Notice that all of the CDs from 1 year to 3 years offer the same interest rate of 2.00% APY. Unless you believe rates will rise above that, the 1-year CD would be a better way to go. If you believe interest rates will decrease below that, a longer term CD would be better to invest in, as it would lock in a better rates.

Be sure you are committed to any of these CDs, as you aren’t allowed to withdraw any funds from the accounts for a 90-day period, and of course there will be the usual early withdrawal fees applied of you decided to withdraw funds after that.

A CD continues to be a good place to safely park your money, and the early withdrawal penalities are actually good for you, as it forces discipline on you unless you absolutely need the money in a major emergency situation.

Tags: cds, certificate of deposit, certificate of deposits, saving strategies

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 7th, 2009 at 5:01 pm and is filed under reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

• A Look at 2008 Goal Progress One of the best ways to accomplish something is to break it down into small, manageable parts. Complete these small parts and soon you'll have your goal accomplished. For 2008, I thought I'd back on what my goals were and...
• Stashing Your Cash If you want to access your money quickly, where do you put it? Where do you hide your emergency fund, in a cookie jar, a safe or in the bank? Knowing where to stash your cash is vitally important, and...
• Can You Retire On Less Than $3,000 A Month? Ever wondered if you could retire on $3,000 a month? Well the answer is "Yes!". Not only that, you might be able to get by on only $2,000 a month! Of course, you'd have to sell you gas-guzzling Tahoe and...
• Save Big Bucks by Brown-Bagging It AMagill I started brown bagging my lunch several years ago, and can reveal that I've saved almost $5,000! My calculations follow. We employ a 9/80 work week, which means that we work nine days out of ten over a two...
• Use Forex To Reduce Your Debt And Gain Financial Independence This article will show you the steps that you can take to safely become a professional forex trader. It is not a get-rich-quick scheme or other such thing. This technique requires you to apply yourself and be dedicated to being...