Joel is a full-time Personal Finance Writer at Motley Fool Money, where he brings a clear, approachable voice to topics ranging from credit cards to side hustles. He’s been writing about money since ...

Joel O’Leary is a full-time Personal Finance Writer at Motley Fool Money, covering credit cards, bank accounts, investing, mortgages, and other personal finance topics. Joel has been writing about ...

When building savings, some Americans use a ladder — a CD ladder, that is. A certificate of deposit allows you to deposit money into an interest-bearing account and lock in an interest rate for a set ...

CD ladders use different maturities to maintain access to funds at regular intervals while guaranteeing a return. Short-term CD ladders are often used as part of an emergency fund strategy. Long-term ...

We independently evaluate all of our recommendations. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. Jessica Gibson is a content update editor and writer for Investopedia. She has over ...