A CD ladder is a simple way to earn more on your cash without locking it all up. Here's why it makes sense for 2026.

Miranda Marquit, MBA, is a freelance contributor to Newsweek’s personal finance team. She has an M.A. in journalism from Syracuse University and has been writing and podcasting about money since 2006.

Fixed-income investors need predictable income, and one of the classic ways to receive continual cash flow from investments is to set up a bond ladder. Just like a step ladder has ever-higher rungs, ...

A bond ladder is an investment strategy that involves purchasing multiple bonds that mature at different times. The ladder analogy is an apt visual tool to describe how bond ladders work: Each rung of ...

Certificates of deposit rates dipped moderately in the second half of 2024 due to Federal Reserve interest rate cuts but have bounced back in 2025, with the best CD rates falling into the 4.5% range.

Bond ladders work well when rates are rising, giving wealthy investors sequential opportunities to exchange maturing low-rate debt instruments for higher-yielding paper. Rates are low now, but they ...

EDITOR'S NOTE: This article was originally published in the July 2012 issue of Kiplinger's Retirement Report. To subscribe, click here. The bond ladder, a classic strategy for income-focused retirees, ...

Fixed-income investors need predictable income, and one of the classic ways to receive continual cash flow from investments is to set up a bond ladder. Just like a step ladder has ever-higher rungs, ...