1) First, it is important to pick up some high rate certificates of deposit with banks with 1 year, two year, three year and five years period of time CDs.

2) The dates of the maturity of the CD should be consistent with the time when the investor requires the amount. Based on this the ladder can be longer or it can be shorter.  Shorter ladders are helpful, if the investor is expecting some rise in the interest in near future.

3) One needs to pick up some banks to invest at as well, based on which of the banks offer high rate certificate of deposit. There are online sites available where one can check for the banks. In such online sites, one can enter the amount and the length of time for which they want the CDs to be fixed, the rest will be done automatically by the platform. One can also take the help of some experts or professionals in the field.

4) It is a better method, if the investor approaches each of the CD keeping in time the total amount i.e. the principal and the maturity. Here, it is also important that one calculates this amount with their requirement so that they can decide whether or not they would want that CD to be rolled over or they would want to collect the cash. For this decision, it is also important to consider expenses and cash flow.

5) One can always approach an investment advisor in this regard. Those who decide to do this on their own have to acquire knowledge on all aspects of the rate, high rate certificate of deposit, future economic condition, terms of deposit and such others.

Instead of considering high rate certificate of deposit which involves keeping the amount deposited for longer time, ladder is a better option. This is because in longer investment, depositor loses the opportunity to invest in other higher rate CDs.  It is important to know how much of the amount from their financial portfolio one can put into the laddering. It is better, if someone keeps the CDs arranged in such a way that some amount always keeps on maturing annually. Based on their financial condition, they might choose to do it otherwise. One must also confirm the terms of roll-over with the financial institute. This is because some banks automatically roll over the deposit if they are not informed. It can be disadvantageous if investor wishes to invest the money to another option or they need the cash.  Moreover, since the responsibility of maintaining the cycle of the ladder lie with the investor, it is better to keep record.