I'm a member of a credit union, and am interested in getting a CD on some "petty" cash (Very roughly, more then 2k, less then 10k)
I want to make my money work for me instead of it all sitting in a savings account during my deployment.

The rates are here
The loan adviser indicated that I qualify for the Bonus rates instead of the regular rates (.25% better), and that Dividends are paid monthly. 2.5% per month? That's not bad at all in my eyes, but what do I know? I think she also indicated that the APR was on the final amount after the CD was up?


I was thinking of doing 18 month CD's with increments of around $500? That way, if I would "really" need some quick cash, I could liquidate one and not be too bad off.

Is there a better way to have idle money make money right now with everything the way it is? I dont want to risk loosing a huge chunk of change, I've already lost enough in the stock market to make me wonder why I even bothered (I am 19, I know I'm not the biggest looser, but it still sucks)

So, is a CD a good way to safely make money work, or am I better off doing something else with it?
Also, I saw the best "value" in the 18 month CD, that's what I would go with if I were to do it. Is there a better option?

Thanks for the advice, I really appreciate it.

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