I'd like to hear more on this topic as well. I have a CD ladder at ING which I am liquidating as the CDs mature. I'd like to re-establish a ladder at Vanguard where I now have a taxable account and brokerage account. The process of selecting CDs at ING was drop-dead simple. Pick the maturity, like the rate? buy it or don't.
The Vanguard CD/Bond Desk has a comparatively dizzying array of choices. Should I just go with their quick picks? I presume that I should just skip the Callable CDs since I'm trying to build a basic ladder (right?) Conditional puts on death of holder looks like it is standard for every CD so that's to be expected (right?). Other than not selecting callable CD's, is there any reason to select anything but the highest yielding CD? Is there any advantage to calling the Vanguard Bond Desk rather than do an online transaction?
Sorry, lots of questions, I've got a lot to learn in this area....
--Linney