5-Year CD Rates in Greater Atlanta Region Lower Than National Average

NATIONAL AVERAGE RESULTS - $10K

In the Greater Atlanta Region area, the average 5-year CD rate sat at 0.94%, lower than the national average of 1.15%. Rates on the 5-year CD ranged from 0.15% on the low end to 1.75% at the high end, which can be found at Stearns Bank National Association. The average 3-year CD rate in Greater Atlanta Region was 0.67% with a range of 0.05% to 1.25% found at North Atlanta Bank. And if you are on the market for a 1-year CD, take a look at Beal Bank USA, which currently offers a rate of 1.01% as compared to the Greater Atlanta Region average of 0.37%. Other top rate issuers can be found in the tables that follow.

GREATER ATLANTA REGION AVERAGE RESULTS - $10K

TOP RATE ISSUERS - $10K

This is a list of issuers with top interest rates in the Greater Atlanta Region area. The issuer's Financial Strength Rating is an independent, unbiased evaluation of quarterly regulatory statements. Institutions are assigned a letter grade of A-E with "A" representing the highest rating based on a review of many aspects of financial safety including capitalization, asset quality, profitability and liquidity. For more information, visit www.weissratings.com/help/what-our-ratings-mean.aspx. Information is believed to be accurate, but not guaranteed.

Data is surveyed weekly with averages calculated each Monday afternoon from RateWatch's unbiased national interest rate survey of over 96,000 financial institution locations across the United States.

More About CDs:

CDs, or certificate of deposits, are bank-issued promissory notes wherein an investor deposits money for a set amount of time and, provided the money remains untouched, receives interest on the total sum when the investment matures.

While the money can't be accessed during that time (without incurring penalties), the advantage of a CD over a regular savings deposit is the higher rate of interest. Typically, a CD can be taken out on as few as three-month terms but can range to up to five years; generally, the longer the timeframe the higher rate of interest.

CD Laddering:

To provide further financial security, a CD laddering strategy offers conservative investors the opportunity to stagger their capital across numerous deposits set to expire at different intervals. Not only does this hedge against variable rate fluctuations by offering a guaranteed return at a locked-in interest rate, it also increases liquidity given that one CD will mature at predictable and established intervals.

Using an example of a five-year ladder strategy, an investor would divide his or her money amongst one-, two-, three-, four-, and five-year CDs. Once the one-year deposit matures, he or she will reinvest the money into a five-year CD, and will do so every subsequent year upon each CD's maturation. In this way, the investor has a CD that matures each year and thus, steady income from the interest on the maturing investments.

Nevertheless, investors must keep in mind that the onus of developing a ladder strategy is on the investor, not the bank or financial institution. In developing a strategy, map out each rung of the ladder, determining how long you want to invest for, the kind of return you are targeting and the length of time you can tolerate not having access to the principal and interest.

About RateWatch

For over 20 years, RateWatch has been the premier provider of competitive interest rate and product information to financial institutions across the United States. Consistently providing top quality, highly relevant data RateWatch maintains the largest database in the industry with deposit, loan, and fee information monitoring over 96,000 locations. Rate surveys, product comparisons, financial strength reporting, local/regional/national averages, fee reporting, specialty reports and more are available. To learn more about RateWatch, visit www.rate-watch.com. RateWatch is a division of TheStreet, Inc.