which cd term should i choose 
you ll need to determine the cd term that is right for you consider your plans for the money if it s for a specific goal or project the expected start of that project will help you determine your ideal cd term length if you re just socking away cash with no particular goal you may opt for a longer term and higher interest rate also consider what s expected to happen with the fed s rate if it s anticipated that the fed will raise rates and bank and credit union cd rates will likely rise as well then short and mid term cds will make more sense than long term cds that s because since you won t want to be committed to a lesser rate for five years when new higher rates appear conversely if you expect rates will decrease in the near term you may want long term cds so you can lock in today s higher rates for years one other way to invest in cds when interest rates are rising is to buy a variable rate cd or a bump up cd a variable rate cd has an apy that changes based on an index rate it can go up or down essentially you should aim buy a variable rate cd when rates are expected to go up and stay up a bump up cd allows you to increase the rate at one time of your choosing and the rate can not go down variable rate cds and bump up cds typically have lower starting rates than traditional cds you ll need to weigh that when considering these products a cd ladder why should i build one a cd ladder enables you to access the higher rates offered by 5 year cd terms the twist is that a portion of your money becomes available every year rather than every five years here s how to build a cd ladder at the outset you take the amount of money that you want to invest in cds and divide it by the number of cds you will invest in let s say you will invest in five cds you then put one fifth of the funds into a top earning 1 year cd another fifth into a top 2 year cd another into a 3 year cd and so forth through a 5 year cd let s say you have 25 000 available that would give you five cds of varying length each with a value of 5 000 then when the first cd matures in a year you take the resulting funds and open a top rate 5 year cd a year later your initial 2 year cd will mature and you ll invest those funds into another 5 year cd you continue doing this every year with whichever cd is maturing until you end up with a portfolio of five cds all earning 5 year apys but with one of them maturing every 12 months cd ladders keep your money more accessible than if all of your money were locked up for a certain term 