"From our experience, the brokered CD market is more competitive," said Richard Carter, vice president of fixed income products and services at Fidelity. Like traditional CDs, brokered CDs are offered in different maturities. For instance, JPMorgan's one-year CD, with its 5.4% yield, can be called as early as Oct. 30, according to Fidelity's website. With a brokered CD, you'll have to sell it on the secondary market — and you may lose some of your principal. Depending on your time frame, you may consider a one-year ladder with CD maturities three months apart, a two-year ladder with CD maturities six months apart, or a five-year ladder, with maturities one year apart, he said.

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Persons: Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Schwab, Richard Carter, Carter, you'll, there's, Morgan, Greg McBride, It's, McBride, staggers maturities Organizations: JPMorgan, Fidelity Investments, Bank of America, Fidelity, Vanguard, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, Morgan Stanley Private Bank and Bank of America Locations: U.S