Finding a high interest certificate of deposit takes a little research. In order to find the highest paying certificates of deposit available, there are a couple of different paths. First, you can do all of the legwork on your own, or you can get a little help from a financial website that gathers and compiles certificate of deposit interest rate, term, initial deposit and bank information. Once you gather the information, a high interest certificate of deposit can be selected by choosing the option that best fits your investing needs.
To select one on your own, identify the local banks and credit unions that offer certificates of deposit. Gather information on Internet banks that offer certificates of deposit as well. Once you have the names of the institutions to investigate, move on to gathering other information, such as the interest rates, terms and initial deposit amount requirements for each certificate of deposit.
Before examining interest rates, determine the time frame for which you want to deposit your money. A high interest certificate of deposit ranges from one month to 10 years, but the longer-term options tend to have higher interest rates than the short-term ones. Finding a high interest rate certificate of deposit then requires a balance between earning the interest rate you want and tying up the money for an acceptable period of time.
Finally, determine what the deposit amount requirement is for each certificate of deposit. Some certificates of deposit require a minimum deposit amount of $250 US Dollars (USD), while others may be $2,500 USD or higher. While you can get a high interest certificate of deposit for the term you want, the minimum amount may be too high.
If you choose to use a comparison website to provide the information on the certificates of deposit, narrowing down the options is the same. Instead of having to contact the banks and credit unions individually, however, all of the information is available on one website. As the high interest certificate of deposit options are narrowed down, contact the individual institutions to verify that the information is correct.
Once you narrow down your options to just one high interest certificate of deposit, you are ready to open the account. Contact the bank online or in-person to complete the necessary paperwork to open the certificate of deposit account. Once the account is opened, it can be funded with cash, a check, wire transfer or money order.