Bank CD Rates as a Safe Investment

After four years of working abroad, I was looking for possible investments of my savings. In 1999 the stock market was very bullish and I thought was a good investment. In July that year, I purchased 6,000 shares of Cisco Systems at around $64 per share. For those who do not know, Cisco Systems is the 600 pound gorilla in computer networking, in particuall routers. 

Then came the dot-com bubble burst and the NASDAQ went from 5,000 down to less than 15oo in a few short months. My $384,000 investment was now worth less than half. It took a good eight years for me to recover my investment. Not with Cisco systems which never came back to the price I bought it at but with investments on energy stocks. Thankfully I sold all my stock holdings before the credit crises last fall and the meltdown in stocks.   

Now that I’m older, closer to retirement I need to protect my captial. That being said, I decided to invest in certificate of deposits rather than risk any of my principal. CD Rates aren’t that high these days but at least I know my principal is protected up to $250,00 by the FDIC.

I decided since interest rates are so low I would stick to shorter term certificate of deposits so my money wouldn’t be locked in for a long term at these low rates. Currently my money is in three-month certificate of deposits at EverBank. The bank is offering one of the best CD rates for a three-month certificate. The annual percentage yield is currently at 1.25 percent.