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If you're looking for a minimum of 5% with little risk have you thought about taking 4.20% - 4.85% with NO risk? seems like a worthy trade-off. Currently INGdirect offers the following rates on CD's:
ING DIRECT currently offers the following Orange CDs
Term APY Interest Rate Effective Date
6 Month 4.20% 4.1564% 12/10/05
9 Month 4.25% 4.2276% 12/10/05
12 Month 4.40% 4.40% 12/10/05
18 Month 4.50% 4.50% 12/10/05
24 Month 4.75% 4.75% 12/10/05
30 Month 4.75% 4.75% 11/19/05
36 Month 4.75% 4.75% 11/19/05
48 Month 4.80% 4.80% 11/19/05
60 Month 4.85% 4.85% 11/05/05
If you start out with $2,000, and buy a 12mo CD @ 4.4%, you would have in 1 yr $2,088. If you want 5% and are willing to take what risk may come with it, at the end of the year you would have earned only $12 more dollars on that $2,000. In the mean time you can add your $200 to an ING savings account every month with no fees/minimum balances what-so-ever, at the current rate of 3.75%. Then you can move it to a CD to get that extra percentage point. Just a suggestion.
If you want to get into stocks and earn a higher return, I would suggest taking the time to learn the Business Week Investor Education course. It does cost money upfront for the materials, but the information you learn is definatly worth it. I've been in it for only 4 months now, and the stocks I buy, through following the "rules" laid out, have given me a return of almost 12% in 4 months. Thats an annual return of 36%. Ameritrade only charges $10.99 commission fees per trade, I find it a good value. Hope this helps.
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"If I am such a genius why am I drunk, lost in the desert, with a bullet in my ass?" -Otto Mannkusser
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