As we move into the fall with all sorts of political turbulence with potential economic ramifications, the Federal Reserve remains poised to raise the Fed funds rate by 50 basis points to 2.25% to 2.50% before December.

As we pointed out in our August update and in other recent articles, the Federal Reserves’ dovish position has now led to the spread between 1-year CD rates and online savings rates which has widened out to 60 basis points -- the widest it has been in over a decade.

The Federal Reserve’s disposition and the likelihood of as many as four additional raises in 2019 cause us to recommend against longer-term CD rates now, especially 5 year CDs.

If you feed obliged to reach for higher yields, we recommend the following 3 products:

1. Synchrony Bank – 13-Month CD at 2.65% (requires a balance over $2,000)

Synchrony’s 13-Month CD pays more than any online 12-month CD, and we think it makes sense to lock in for an extra month for the additional yield. (Editor's Note: As of September 13, 2018, it is possible to find online one-year CDs that yield more than the 13-month Synchrony product. In many areas of the country, you can also find local 1-year CDs that match or exceed this rate at local banks or credit unions).

2. Marcus – 12-Month CD at 2.55%

Marcus’s one-year CD rate was recently raised. We think that the current offering provides enough of an improvement over current savings rates to adequately compensate those investors willing to lock up money that they are certain they won’t need for a year. See all 1 year CD products here.

Editor’s Note: Marcus is an advertiser on BestCashCow. Please read our Advertiser Disclosure here.

3. Ally Bank 11-Month No Penalty CD – 2.00% (requires a balance over $25,000)

For those depositors with over $25,000 to invest, Ally often offers a slight yield improvement over their savings rates.

Since this product can be terminated easily online with no penalty, it is basically a savings or money market account a wearing different skin.

By and large however we are more inclined to stick with savings and money market accounts in a rising interest rate environment. Within that category, we’d prefer to stick with offerings by banks that have made a commitment to this space. Two that we like are:

1. Radius Bank Online Savings – 1.96% (requires a balance over $25,000)

While it is a relatively new entrant to the online savings arena, Radius has a neat cutting edge user interface and solid reviews. Since they just raised their rates at the end of August for depositors over $25,000, we suspect that they will continue to be competitive in this space and for this market.

Editor’s Note: Radius Bank is an advertiser on BestCashCow. Please read our Advertiser Disclosure here.

2. Marcus – 1.85% Online Savings rate

Marcus has outstanding customer reviews and, with its lightening fast ACH transfers, it is a good place to stash cash that you might need to access quickly. More importantly, Marcus has proved in 2018 to be just a little bit faster to raise rates than the other most recognized online banks (Amex, Barclays and Ally). Since Marcus is owned by Goldman Sachs, we feel that depositors, especially those inclined to occasionally deposit over FDIC limits, should sleep well at night.

Editor’s Note: Marcus is an advertiser of BestCashCow. Please read our Advertiser Disclosure here.

Before opening an online savings or money market account, BestCashCow always urges depositors you to check local bank rates and local credit union rates.

At BestCashCow, we’ve been big fans of Jamie Dimon and what he has done with Chase over the last decade in the post-crisis financial world.

On the consumer side, Chase has tremendously outperformed its peers (Citibank, Bank of America and Wells Fargo) in every way imaginable and they have generated exciting credit card products. However, while they offer exciting cash bonuses to those who live in certain areas and open new accounts, they have yet to become competitive with their savings and money rates.

A thrust for Chase has been its Chase Private Client Services, where they offer a host of services if you maintain $250,000 in assets (such as free ATM access worldwide). However, so far, this offering has yet to be compelling against the offerings that Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch present to people of similar wealth. And, smaller competitors with compelling new checking account offers – like that of Radius Bank – provide a lot of the same services as Chase’s Private Client Services (including reimbursement of ATM fees) while delivering an interest rate above 0.03%.

In order to try to make its consumer offerings and Private Client Services (and its other consumer offerings) more attractive, this morning Chase has announced that it will be introducing a new digital brokerage service next week. The application, which will make access to its equity research and portfolio tools available to all of its 47 million users, will give its Private Client Services customers unlimited trades.

While Chase’s move is interesting, we have to question how compelling it will be for most users. The major online brokerages – Etrade, TDAmeritrade, Charles Schwab, Fidelity, Ally Invest – have all been competing against each other for years to make online trading very inexpensive (see our comparison of online brokers here). They also offer very compelling cash incentives to attract and maintain your business. Some are even offering interest on invested cash in cash accounts that is slightly below the best online savings and money market rates.

So, while we think retail customers should welcome Chase’s latest move, it is unlikely to move the needle for most customers considering Chase’s Private Client Services.

General Electric now appears to be in the middle stages of a death spiral. While the stock still has an equity value over $100 billion, the entire company is in the middle of a precipitous decline which seems to move to more serious levels in stages.

John Flannery, the current CEO, is doing his best to address layers and layers of debt at GE Capital that were moved off the balance sheet through legal structures (unlike Worldcom and Enron) in the 1990s. Wall Street analysts may or may not have come close to estimating the full obligations here, or the burden of pension obligations. I think that if Flannery is able to salvage anything for the shareholders, he should be inducted into the CEO hall of fame (but, I wouldn’t make that bet, I would sell my GE stock if I had any).

This site, BestCashCow, specializes in providing the public with the best savings and CD rates. Years ago, the best online rates were offered by two institutions that were both operated by GE Capital – GE Capital Bank and GE Capital Retail Bank. I’ve learned that some people have a way of setting and forgetting their savings and CD products, and some of these people have gotten nervous and reached out to the site.

Were GE Capital and GE Capital Retail Bank still under their original ownership, depositors would be protected to the maximum insured value provided by the FDIC.

However, these banks aren’t under their original ownership.

GE Capital Bank was sold to Goldman Sachs three years ago. The bank remains under Goldman Sachs’s ownership and has been rebranded as Marcus. We believe that Goldman Sachs is one of the most sound financial institutions in the country, and Marcus offers a series of savings and CD products where we would actually feel comfortable depositing and holding amounts over FDIC limits.

Editor’s Note: Marcus by Goldman Sachs is an advertiser on this site. Please see our advertiser disclosure here.

GE Capital Retail Bank was rebranded as Synchrony Bank in early 2014 and then it sold 15% of the company in an IPO in July of that year. In November 2015, GE relinquished all control of the remaining 85% of Synchrony through an asset exchange agreement with its shareholders (see the announcement here. As a result, Synchrony today is an entirely independent company that has been free of GE and its problems for over three years.

Editor’s Note: Synchrony Bank is an advertiser on this site. Please see our advertiser disclosure here.

Importantly, therefore, depositors who initially opened accounts at GE Capital Bank and GE Capital Retail Bank can rest assured today that their deposits are safe from GE’s possible death spiral.

See the best savings rates today here.