With a CD you are promised your principal as well as interest when it reaches maturity. The interest rate that you receive on your CD will be agreed upon up front. Make sure that you search around for the best CD rates. Contrary to popular belief, the rates of CDs will differ greatly based on the institution that you do business with.
Before investing in a CD there are several things that you will need to decide on. Just like any other type of investment, it is important to consider every last detail so that you get as many benefits as possible. First off, decide on the term of the CD. As mentioned above you can settle on anything from one month to five years. From there, you need to get a better idea of how much money you want to invest. As you can imagine, the more money that you invest the more you are going to make on interest. Finally, there are two options of what you can do with your earned interest. You can either reinvest it, or it can be given to you upon earning. This is a big decision for you to make because this will have a lot to do with your overall investing strategy.
At this point you may be thinking how the bank benefits from CDs, right? Simply put, by purchasing CD you are letting the bank use your money for a certain period of time. This allows them to do what they want with the money, such as offering loans, etc. Since the bank will be using your money, this is why you will have to pay a penalty if you attempt to withdraw your money before the term is up.