WaMu raised the rate on its 12 month CD back to 5% APY after briefly dropping it to 4.5% APY. This is the top 1 year cd rate in the nation according to the BestCashCow rate table.

WaMu has suffered greatly from the housing decline and credit crisis and yesterday fired their CEO Kerry Killian. The companies stock has dropped from $40 to under $5 over the past year. They are hungry for deposits and will pay high rates for them. Depositors though should be aware that the bank is experiencing problems and to be safe should keep deposits below the FDIC insurance limit of $100,000 for each individual deposit holder.

Money market funds really stink, especially these days. As BestCashCow.com's rate charts show, the rates are not comparable with online savings rates in the current low rate environment. Even worse, these things are not secure. It has happened before where money markets have had their values fall below par, either through redemptions or through defaults in the portfolio. It could easily happen again in this environment.

The government, through the FDIC, provides a way to get better return and sleep better at night. It is, in fact, a no brainer.

As long as you stay below insurance limits, your CDs at FDIC-backed banks are entirely protected. You cannot get that kind of insurance in a money market account.

What I have done is to buy several 1-year CDs which I have pulled off of BestCashCow.com's rate tables. The rates are currently around 4.50% which is twice what I am earning in money market accounts, and again, it is fully insured. Since I am single, I keep my investments to $95,000 per account so that I am assured that even on maturity in one year, my balance will be less than my FDIC insured amount of $100,000. I am also careful that I do not have any other accounts with the banks where I open CDs.

An easier thing to do that provides the same protection as this strategy is to just buy brokered CDs through my broker, again being certain that no more than $95,000 goes into instuments with a single financial instutution. This strategy lets you sleep better at night, but you are never going to get these kind of yields through brokered CDs, listed with say Smith Barney or Merrill Lynch. I've purchased 2, 3 and 4 month CDs through my broker that yield the same as the money market accounts that I am in. It just isn't worth my while to fill out all of the paperwork to get a slight bump-up on a short-term rate, but it is worth my while to make the call to my broker and get the insurance that money markets don't provide in this environment.

State Bank of India has gotten aggressive with its rates, offering the highest 24, 36, and 60 month CD rates. The rates they are offering are:

• 24 month certificate of deposit: 4.78% APY
• 36 month certificate of deposit: 5.09% APY
• 60 month certificate of deposit: 5.30 % APY

These are top cd rates according to the BestCashCow rate tables.

They are largely unknown in the US but are part State Bank of India, India's largest commercial Bank in terms of profits, assets, deposits, branches and employees. They are FDIC insured. For a further review of their offering, please visit the State Bank of India page on BestCashCow.