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What is a Certificate of Deposit

By , About.com Guide

Question: What is a Certificate of Deposit
Answer: A certificate of deposit ("CD") is a short to medium-term, FDIC insured investment available at banks and savings and loan institutions. Customers agree to lend money to the institutions for a certain amount of time. In exchange for doing so, the customers is paid a predetermined rate of interest. Often, banks will charge a penalty fee if the money is withdrawn from the CD before it matures.

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