DollarSavingsDirect.com is still offering the best money market rate in the industry.  Even though many of the other banks have dropped their rates, Dollar Savings Direct has remained strong.

Let’s take a look at their money market account details –

• No fees.
• $1,000 minimum balance required.
• Link your account to your checking account today.  No need to open another one.
• 24/7 access.
• FDIC Insured.

Dollar Savings Direct is a division of Emigrant Bank (FDIC Certificate number 12054).  One downfall that you may expect with this bank is that it currently holds a 1/5 Bankrate.com star rating.  As long as you keep your deposits below the FDIC limits, you’ll be safe.

For more information on this savings account, you can visit DollarSavingsDirect.com.

Yesterday, the Federal Reserve granted GMAC bank status.  What does this mean for GMAC now?  With a “bank status”", they are now entitled to tap into the $700 billion federal bailout package.

Read the full story on Bloomberg.com.

I’ve been a big fan of GMAC bank for a few years now and I personally bank with them and have nothing but good things to say. 

Here are GMAC CD and Savings Rates as of 12/25/2008 –

3 month - 2.50% APY

6 month - 3.50% APY

12 month - 4.00% APY

2 / 3 / 4 year - 4.05% APY

5 year - 4.35% APY

Savings account - 3.75% APY

Money market - 3.25% APY

The savings account in my opinion is one of the best on the market.  All of GMAC’s products are FDIC insured and only require a $500 minimum initial investment.

For more information on GMAC, visit GMACBank.com.

Chase Bank is currently offering their highest CD rate of the year.  For a limited time, you can grab a 5 year CD at 5.00% APY.  This is not bad considering that the second highest 5 year rate is currently held by Capital One at 4.50% APY.

All of Chase Bank’s CDs require a minimum deposit of $10,000.

They are FDIC insured.

Some CDs require that you hold a Chase checking account.

The rates change fast so I would recommend you check this out ASAP at Chase.com.

Last but not least, I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!  I would also like to thank all of you that send me e-mails, visit and subscribe to the e-mail list, it means a lot!

CD rates saw a big decrease over the last week.  Some rates saw drops from 4.50% to 4.00% APY.  These are some of the biggest decreases I’ve seen in the past couple years.

In case you’re wondering, here are the CD rate averages –

• 3 month - 1.80% APY
• 6 month - 2.36% APY
• 1 year - 2.85% APY
• 18 month - 3.10% APY
• 2 year - 3.00% APY
• 3 year - 3.05% APY
• 5 year - 3.11% APY

A few new banks were also added to the mix this week –

• MetLife Bank
• Imperial Capital Bank
• Flagstar Bank
• Stonebridge Bank
• Giant Bank
• Nova Savings Bank

If you have at least $25,000 to invest, I would highly recommend you check out MetLife’s CDs.  They currently have the industry leading 18 month, 2 year and 3 year CD rate.  A majority of their rates are in the top 10.  With a 3/5 bankrate.com star rating, they seem like a good bank to invest with.  More information on their bank can be found at MetLifeBank.com.

If you want to invest with a bank based on bank rating, there are two 5 star banks offering top 10 industry rates –

Capital One Bank | CapitalOne.com

Discover Bank | DiscoverBank.com

As always, keep coming back for updates, I will continue to post them daily.  If you don’t feel like coming here daily, subscribe to our e-mail and the posts will be delivered to your inbox daily!  It’s spam free and I’ll never sell your e-mail address.

With the CD rates continuing to decline, people will ask me who’s offering the best CD rates right now.  If you’re looking to go short term, I would highly recommend you look at the following banks if you plan on investing in a 3 month - 2 year CD. 

According to our recent survey on the front page of the website, 47% said invest into a 3 month - 1 year CD, while 8% said invest into a 2 year - 3 year CD.  Anaylsts say the trend is going to continue to keep going down for a while. 

courtesy of Bankrate.com.

For now, let’s look at these banks for good solid short term CDs –

MetLife Bank | 3 out 5 Bankrate star rating | MetLifeBank.com

Stonebridge Bank | 3 out 5 Bankrate star rating | StoneBridgeBank.com

GiantBank | 4 out 5 Bankrate star rating | GiantBank.com

The banks mentioned above have CD rates for low length CDs in the Top 10 for industry rates.  If you want to check out the top 10 CD rates, be sure to visit the CD rates tab on the left hand side or click the link above.