Getting high rates for your Certificate of Deposit (CD) is important.

There are several options available that can help you get the best CD rates you can.

Shop around. Don’t just look at your local bank’s CD rates. Only sticking with your local bank can prevent you from taking advantage of the CD rates offered by other banks. Go online, call, or visit other banks and compare the rates and terms. Your local bank may offer lower rates than a larger bank (or the other way around).

Compare rates and terms. The CD rate is the percentage of interest you will earn. A term is the time period length of the investment. Maybe your bank has lower CD rates, but will let you invest for 6 months, where as another bank has higher rates, but you must invest for at least a year. It is important to find the right length of time for your investment so you don’t end up needing to pull your money out of the CD early.

Check online banks. Some online banks offer higher rates, because they don’t have the same costs that a brick and mortar bank may have. It is important to make sure that they are FDIC insured, and if they are, than they are just as safe as any other bank.

These are some of the considerations you should take into account when looking to get the best rates available for CDs.