If you don’t want to put all of your money into one low-rate CD, consider a “CD
ladder”: divide your cash equally among CDs that will mature every six months
for the next five years. Each time a CD matures, you can reinvest in a
five-year CD, maintaining the length of your ladder.
Over time, this will increase your blended yield because short-term, low-yield
CDs are replaced by five-year CDs paying higher yields. You’re protected from
sudden dips in interest rates, because only a small portion of this money comes
due at one time, yet this constant flow of redemptions and reinvestments offer
you the chance to get higher yields when rates move up.
For each CD maturity, you can shop around for the highest yield, insured by the
federal government up to $100,000 per account.