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I personally don’t know anyone who isn’t thoroughly sick of those E*trade commercials by now. You know the ones I’m referring to – the ads with the talking baby. This digitally-assisted tot is preternaturally glib when it comes to financial matters, but banking experts are cautioning consumers that you definitely shouldn’t choose an online investment firm based on the relative cuteness of its mascot (which goes for car insurance, too, but that’s a story for another post).

Enjoy another installment of the Bantime Credit Card Encylopedia. Fall from relating solely to the business of credit cards, the encyclopedia also contains important information about mortgages, insurance, loans, and other forms of banking. Soak in the important financial knowledge, and enjoy!

Consumers continue to be quite disappointed by the rates on certificates of deposits. Industry trade site bankrate.com showed this week that across the country the average six-month CD rate was still a pathetic 1.4 percent. That means that, in some places, the rates are actually as low as half of one percent.

A banking division of GMAC is being taken to task for offering interest rates that are allegedly excessive in an effort to bring in new depositors. Ally Bank is a subsidiary of GMAC. GMAC, of course, was the dedicated financing division of (the now bankrupt) General Motors before being purchase in part by Cerberus Capital Management LP.

Slowly, surely, the United States is again becoming a nation of savers. The country learned the value of saving the hard way after the Great Depression of the 1930s, but our financial habits have been on a long, slow decline since then. The contemporary recession is seeing many consumers finally making the smart decisions to cut up their credit cards, stop blowing money on frivolous expenses, and set some cash aside for a rainy day.

Well, there’s some good news and some bad news about investing your money in certificates of deposit (CDs) these days. On one hand, you need not worry as much about the FDIC limits on your deposits. On the other hand, rates are still in the gutter. You win some, you lose some.

For Americans trying their damndest to save money in this day and age, it seems like the recession is stymieing them at every possible opportunity. Pensions are drying up as once-stable domestic companies declare bankruptcy (see: Chysler and General Motors), 401k and IRA plans are losing money, and the cost of living continues to get higher.

Personal finance experts at Kiplinger’s recently ran a report entitled What You Need to Know About CDs, designed to reflect modern times. With a recession in progress and national economic health in a poor state indeed, historically accepted rules about investing and savings have changed dramatically – if not gone right out the proverbial window.

It’s more bad news for consumers, as certificate of deposit rates continued their steady decline this week. CD rates have been descending continuously for a year, reflecting the crisis in the banking industry as a whole. About a year ago, smart shoppers could score a one-year CD rate of around five percent, if they hit the right bank.

A Certificate of Deposit (CD) is a great way to invest your money without the concern of our ever-changing stock market.  By investing in a fixed-rate CD, you know precisely how much you will have when the CD matures. But, if the interest rate rises, you will not be able to take advantage.
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