What To Do When Your CD Matures

We put our emergency fund into a CD ladder and every month one of those certificates of deposit matures and is automatically renewed. As an added bonus, ING Direct, where our CDs live, gives us a CD rollover bonus whenever we renew (currently the bonus is 0.15% on CDs of at least 12-months long). For us, the decision is simple. It’s a CD ladder and you simply renew the CD each month for the 12 month term.

What if you’re money isn’t in a CD because it’s part of a CD ladder, what should you do?

My goal is always to maximize the interest rate while minimizing my headache. Our CD ladder isn’t at ING Direct because they offered the best 12 month CD rates (though they currently do, especially after you factor in the rollover bonus or the new money bonus), it’s because it was the simplest online savings account available when we set up the ladder.

1. Decide whether you ...