CD Rates in the News: Feb 18
February 18, 2009
By Kevin Cafferty
Hello all, I've found some more interesting articles about the state of investing, particularly in CDs (Certificates of Deposit) and wanted to share the latest CD Rates news. Enjoy! If you come across an interesting article, I'd love it if you'd leave a link in the comments below.
The Wall Street Journal's financial blog, The Wallet, has an informative article called How to Know if a Certificate of Deposit Is Safe. There's a lot of information, but the bit that stood out to me was:
Even more importantly, look for those four magic letters: FDIC. Don’t settle for “guaranteed” or “insured,” says Richard Ferri, CEO of Portfolio Solutions, an investment management service. “You’ve got to get into the details. Who are they insured by? The FDIC or Bill’s Bike Shop down the road?” A smooth-talking financier can tinker marketing of products to give the illusion of safety, but if it doesn’t have the FDIC guarantee, leave it aside.
Rest assured, every bank in the MoneyAisle network is Member FDIC.
Meanwhile, in a similar vein, BusinessWeek takes a look at one bank that is not a member of the FDIC, and what that can mean for your investment.
Is Millennium Bank Too Good to Be True?
But a closer look at Millennium Bank and its purported parent company, United Trust of Switzerland, raises some serious questions. First, there’s the investment strategy. Millennium offers precious few details about how it manages such outsize returns. The firms’ Web site indicates that Millennium—“free from the limitations” of those pesky regulators, the FDIC—can invest in a wide range of assets, including foreign stocks, real estate, and debt. Trouble is, those categories of investments aren’t exactly doing that well these days. Millennium Bank did not return calls for comment.
This article illustrates some of the reasons why MoneyAisle only deals with FDIC-Member banks. We know you work hard for your money, and FDIC protection (up to $250,000 per individual account) is the best way to make sure your investment is safe regardless of the ups and down of the market.
Comments
On
Friday, February 20, 2009
Kevin Cafferty
wrote:
Excellent point on the FDIC insurance limits. I linked to an article in the Boston Globe earlier this week warning consumers that if they opened a 1-year CD for over $100,000 this month then the term of the CD would extend past the new $250,000 limits.
On
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Bank CD Rates
wrote:
The Blogosphere has been suspicious of Millennium for quite some time. Usually, if it is too good to be true, it is.
You mention $250K of insurance with FDIC insured banks. Remember that is only until 12/31/09 at this point.
Although there is a good chance it will be made permanent, I'm not counting on until it is.
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