Short term financial planning question

[DeadHorse]

Here's the situation. Mrs. Deadhorse and myself have a chunk of money sitting in the bank right now. (She sold her house before the wedding.) We want to use that money and some of my money to roll into a new house within the 1-3 years or whenever we sell my house.

They're currently in CD's right now at 4.5%. Those were short term CD's. They'll come open in a few months. The CD interest rates have fallen quite a bit in the last month or so. They seem to be in the mid to high 3's.

My question is, what are some good ways to get a better interest rate while still maintaining security? I'm OK with risk when it comes to long term goals but this is a short term goal and I don't want to risk losses.

Would bonds be a good idea, for example?

 

[EuroHorn]

There are savings accounts, like ING, and a few others where you can get a similar rate without locking your money in a 6 month or 1 year CD. I have a credit union account and another through USAA that are getting around 4.5%

Check that. Mine are still above 4% but it looks like they are dropping.

 

[pulque]

If you've got a minimum $25k you can buy 7 day liquid paper which is tax free. It is running about a half point to a point above cd's.

 

[JC13545]

fidelity.com has a fund called FDRXX that is somewhere around 4.25 and you can withdraw funds in 2-3 days