There is no doubt that we are living in extraordinary times. A deep and profound depression unlike anything that anyone living has ever seen before and the reemergence of terrorism worldwide sends clear signals like never before - worldwide stock markets are going lower. If you haven't gotten hurt badly and still have money left to protect, you are now taking a whole lot of it and trying to protect it. Corporations and individuals have moved so much money into US Teasuries, presumably the safest investment of all, that short-term interest rates are basically zero (could they go negative like they did in Japan in the 1990's?).

I, for one, am amazed at the number of friends and family who have just thrown up their hands in this environment. They reason that as long as they are protecting principal and not losing money, it doesn't really matter where the money is. I think that is foolish.

The good news is that the increased FDIC limits until the end of 2009 now make it more worthwhile than ever to take the extra effort to make greater returns on your money. If you can lock up your money for any length of time, there are still plenty of 1 to 3 year CD rates listed on BestCashCow.com at well over 4%. The risk, as long as you stay within FDIC limits is zero (as a point of fact, not only is the principal safe in my WaMu and IndyMac CDs that I purchased earlier in the year still there, but they are still earning their contract interest rates). But, if you are still going to fret, you can do very well in well recognized banks like ING Direct, Everbank or Discoverbank.

The short-term CDs are all no brainers, but the excuses are still there. There are at least two excuses that I will recognize. First, you don't want to lock up the money for such a long period of time. Second, you don't want to deal with the additional paperwork and time.

I don't even give too much credence to the second of these excuses, even though I hear it all the time. As many of the bank reviews on BestCashCow.com show, many of these banks have streamlined the process so well that you can open the accounts as soon as the bank verifies your social security number and driver's license details, all entered through the internet, and you can transfer money simply by entering numbers from your checks, also entered online.

The first excuse, of course, is reasonable, but these days you can still get a great rate in an online bank account without locking up your money at all. For, example, Dollar Savings Direct is offering a 4% rate. This rate is not only better than any 3 month rate, it is virtually as good as any 6 month rate. It just doesn't make any sense not to put as much as you can, up to FDIC limits, in one of these accounts. The risk of course, unlike a CD, is that the rate could fall dramatically and quickly. But, it needs to fall quite precipitously not to be better than what you might get in one of the leading money market funds (and still further not to be better than a Treasury bond).

ING Direct is offering a competitive 2.25% APY on a 12-month CD when it is funded with new money (they call it a Value Added CD). The rate (as of 10/7/2009) is one of the best 12-month CD rates according to the BestCashCow rate tables. It's been a long time since ING has been at the top of any rate table. It's good to see since ING has one of the easiest to use online banking interfaces. For those that don't remember, ING was an early pioneer earlier this decade in offering a stand-alone high yield, online savings account.

ING is currently paying 2.10% APY on a 1-year CD. When you fund the CD from a non-ING source, they'll add another 15 basis points for a total return of 2.25% APY. There is no minimum balance on the CD and ING has an easy account opening process. Everything can be done electronically and funding is done via an ACH electronic transfer from another bank account. Transferring money out can also be done via an ACH electronic transfer and in my experience takes between 2-3 business days. ING allows joint accounts, living trust accounts and IRAs.

ING Direct has adequate ratings for safety and soundness. Bauer Financial gives it 3 out of 5 stars (adequate), down from 4 stars last year. The bank has $90 billion in assets, making it the largest "online only" player out there.

Please share any experiences you have with ING and the Value Added CD.

See the best 12-month online CD rates here.

Amboy Direct is offering an add-on eSavings CD in which the APY is based on how much is deposited into the CD. What's unique is that you can make deposits after you have opened the CD. Like a CD, an eSavings Time Deposit offers a higher rate of interest for a guaranteed period of time. In addition, with Amboy's eSavings Time Deposit, you can make additional deposits during first 6 months.

Rates are as follows:

$100-9,999: 1.00% APY

$10,000 - $100,000: 2.10% APY

2.10% APY is not the best 12-month cd rate but it's competitive. Here's how it can be used. By placing a $100 in the account at 1%, you gain the option to invest an additional 999,900 at 2.1% APY. Since rates are still headed down, that option may become valuable in the future. And if you decided not invest, all you have committed at 1% is $100.

Opening the CD can be done online and the rate locks when the application is submitted. Funding can only be done online, with the funding mechanism verified via a trial deposit into an online checking account that will serve the the funding source.

Safety and Soundess

Amboy Direct is part of Amboy Bank. Amboy Bank is based in New Jersey. It has 26 branches and $2.7 billion in assets. Bauer Financial gives Amboy Direct 2 out of 5 stars (Problematic) for its safety and soundness. The bank is FDIC insured.