I think that once the money is in and the document is signed they can't get out of it no matter what. That's the whole point. If the rates go up you are locked in as well.5% for just leaving your money somewhere is not bad if you don't need the money for something else. A good investment will pay 10-15% but it's risky. Here it's pretty much a guarantee (although with banks shutting down every day and the FDIC unsure if they can afford to insure everyone's money, I'm not sure if I should be making that statement).
The FDIC is backed by the government (which still has a solid credit rating, at least on paper). So I guess that means a CD is at least as safe as hording paper currency (since if the government went bust that would be worthless as well).
Probably true. I was just saying it because I remembered hearing or reading somewhere last week that if ALL the banks went bust, the FDIC would not have enough money in their fund to cover everything. Don't shoot the messenger