What kind of documents will they hand me after I open a Certificated Account at Chase? Which ones should I keep at home and which ones at the bank?

You should be asking this question to Chase.

I will but I'm not too trustful with my money, not even with a bank employee, I'm talking about a my lifetime savings and I don't want to risk it at all. Any information? Maybe not from chase but from other banks? I just don't want to lose any of it, apparently Chase is a safe bank to invest in (even if the APY is low compared to others).

You should get a receipt for your deposit with the terms of the CD; Interest and term.

Is that all? They won't hand me any actual certificate? So it will be basically under my name and that's it? It sounds kind of unsafe. Are we talking of receipts like the ones you get from the counter when you're making a deposit or the ones you get from the ATM?

Its all electronic these days. The receipt will state the terms of the CD, there may be some boiler plate language as well, Its more of a contract than a receipt.

You have the paperwork when you get it, and they let you know a month or so before it expires in case you plan to renew it. A cd is about as safe an investment as there is. Unfortunately there are few investments that are paying much these days as long as interest rates remain as low as they have been. There is a big paper-trail with these...its far from just a wink and a nod.

First of all CD's are a real bad investment at this time, and commercial banks pay the worst interest. You would be better of with one of the simply safe accounts at a community or savings bank . These accounts are not electronically connected to any source, (ie. Bill pay, atm, transfer, etc.) It makes them a little safer and the interest is much better on a whole than a CD. The only way you get access to the account if if you go personally and physically withdraw money the old way. You get documentation once you open the account . The documentation is the exact copy that the bank holds.

I would disagree that CDs are a "real bad" investment. It depends on your investment goals. If your goal is extremely low risk, then they have value. I would agree that you should shop around first for rates. Chase probably does not have the best rates. On the other hand, you may get special rates if the deposit is significant enough and you use it to qualify for minimum balance requirements that get other special perks.

Any idea of how the receipt would look like? I would like to know I'm handed the right document with the valid information on it and I'm not being scammed by the person doing this account for me. I guess I could always check it up online but it's good to have a document backing you up at all times.

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Originally Posted by AASanchez

Any idea of how the receipt would look like? I would like to know I'm handed the right document with the valid information on it and I'm not being scammed by the person doing this account for me. I guess I could always check it up online but it's good to have a document backing you up at all times.

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WHy don't you go into chase, sit down with a financial advisor and have them explain, and show you just what you get. You are very distrustful if you think the person you deal with can scam you.

No don't check it up online. Go in and ask your questions face to face.

Seriously? You think you would go into a Chase branch (or any bank branch) and meet with a rep and that they would scam you? Where did you get such an idea?

As to what documentation you would get, that varies by institution. Unless someone here works for Chase or has opened a CD with Chase they are not going to know what it looks like. All you need is for it to acknowledge the amount of the deposit and the terms of the CD. As long as that is included then you are covered.

But I'm really wondering why you are so paranoid about this? Have you been burned before? I can understand if you were going to an independent financial advisor but we are talking about one of the biggest banks in the country.

Not exactly me but a very close friend of mine was burned on a Wachovia branch on New Hampshire, it was a couple of months ago but he basically lost part of his money and time on a trial. At least he had all documentation at hand but I just can't trust any representative due to that, still it is way better than keeping my money at home or on a checking account.Thanks a lot for all the advice I've received so far, I feel a little bit less concerned about it, I just hope I don't lose all my lifetime savings and can get a bit of profit out of it.

I see American Express are paying 0.90% for their High Value CD's but you are tying your money up for 5 years. I have been using CD's non callable paying between 0.40%and 0.55% and only tying my money up for 3 month. You can go up in time and interest rate if you want, with the same CD's. That way I can take advantage of better CD rates if and when they come along. Used AE as an example only. You say Lifetime Savings I hope you are not going to put it all in one basket.

Um Wachovia was taken over by Wells Fargo 8 years ago! So if your friend told you this story, he either got it wrong or was scammed by a phony bank. I'm very skeptical that his story was accurately related.

I meant to say a couple of years ago, I remember when that happened with Wachovia and I'm now feeling quite old thinking it has been almost 10 years since then. Anyway, you have all been really helpful and I really appreciate it, I will go for one year CD. It might not be much but at least will make my money grow until the next year when I'm planning to make small investments abroad (probably buying/renting properties) or any kind of business, I'll see when I get there.
Thanks a lot everyone!

At least you will be getting more interest than putting it in a bank savings account paying a paltry 0.10%.

I believe CD's are insured up to a certain amount... if you do have a LOT of money that is above that number, consider splitting it up into more than one CD to keep the total below that on each one.

I do the same with Bank accounts... a single account is only insured by the FDIC to a certain number, If you have more split between multiple accounts and you cover yourself there too.

Watch what the penalty is for early withdrawal....It used to be that years interest at most, the last one I had an option for that paid more than most was a 6 year CD, but that one had a penalty of 3 years interest which I felt was too much. I'll sacrifice a years interest to move something into a much higher yield instrument...but three years makes that less attractive and my gut tells me interest has been so low for so long, it is due to shoot back up soon. And I want to be ready when it does.

Take that with a grain of salt as I am no finance whiz kid....but I've managed to not lose my shirt in the market so far.

The problem as someone else alluded to is that if the interest rate is less than the rate of inflation you could actually lose money if in a low interest rate instrument.