Remember when CDs always offered the best interest rates, followed by money market accounts, savings accounts and then the lowly checking account?

The financial crisis has turned all the old rules upside down.

The high-yield checking accounts at hundreds of community banks across the country now offer the most lucrative returns.

You can earn a respectable 4% or more if you're willing to put up with some extra rules and regulations.

But here's the sorry fact for anyone looking for more traditional certificates of deposit, savings and money market accounts -- average returns have plunged.

Finding a bank willing to pay even a meager 3% for your deposits is hard.

The government is providing commercial banks with so much cheap money that they don't need your money, and the interest rates on virtually every type of deposit reflect that.

What you need is a strategy to earn a better-than-average return during these tough times and be ready to withdraw your money when rates turn around.

Our 5 smart moves for finding the best CDs can help you with those.

The advantage to CDs is that the rate you sign up for is the rate you'll get.

Savings and money market accounts pay variable rates, and we can't tell you how frustrated savers have been with banks that offer a great return to lure new customers through the doors and then lower everyone's rates after a few months.

That said, you can always search our extensive database for the latest savings and money market rates from hundreds of banks.

Here are the best deals available nationwide:

SFGI Direct is paying 2.25% APY with a minimum deposit of only $500. This online division of Summit Community Bank, headquartered in Moorefield, W.Va., has branches throughout the state and in northern Virginia.

With ShoreBank, which has eight branches in the Chicago area and banking centers in Detroit and Cleveland, you'll earn a 2.15% APY on your savings with a minimum deposit of $1 and no monthly fees.

1st Constitution Direct offers a Direct Super Savings Internet Special that earns a 2.00% APY for the first three months and a variable 1.95% APY thereafter, which results in a first-year yield of 1.97%. But to get this rate, a minimum balance of $10,000 is required. Balances below that earn a 1.60% APY. 1st Constitution Direct is the online division of 1st Constitution Bank in Cranbury, N.J.

Money markets, which used to pay better than savings accounts, are now paying less for most deposits.

A group of banks in Oklahoma offer the best-paying money market accounts. AmericaNet Bank, Evantage Bank and Redneck Bank offer 2.0% APY on their Mega Money Market accounts on balances up to $35,000.

There's no minimum balance and no maintenance fee. With your free Visa Check Card, you can make up to six free withdrawals a month. There's a $5 charge for each additional withdrawal.

Flagstar Bank, based in Troy, Mich., pays a 1.82% APY on money market accounts with a deposit of as little as $1. This account requires no minimum balance and charges no monthly fee, but provides check-writing capabilities and online banking. Flagstar has more than 170 banking centers in Michigan, Indiana and Georgia.

Always be sure to check the offers from local banks and credit unions that are only available to local residents and/or union members. They often have rates as good, sometimes even better, than the best deals available nationally.

Whether you put your money into a CD, savings or checking account, it remains safe, thanks to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, which insures credit unions.

Last year's bank bailout resulted in the basic insurance limit per depositor per insured bank or credit union being raised to $250,000 from $100,000, at least through Dec. 31, 2013.

Savings in Individual Retirement Accounts, or IRAs, also are guaranteed for as much as $250,000.

All of the banks and credit unions you'll find on Interest.com are insured.

By Carolyn Siegel

Interest.com Associate Editor

Special offers like these can change quickly. If you find one of these deals is no longer being offered, let us know at editors@interest.com.