Laddering your certificates of deposit can yield higher return on your investment while also allowing your money to be somewhat more liquid. You could put all your money into one CD, however CD laddering involves breaking up your investment into smaller chunks and purchasing several CDs instead of 1.
Assuming high CD rates exist at the time, one can purchase several CDs at varying lengths so there is constantly one CD maturing. Example: Buy 1 certificate of deposit at 3 months, one at 6 months, and one at 1 year. Then when the 3 month CD matures, reinvest the money that you put in along with the interest that you earned into a 1 yr cd. When the 6 month CD matures, also reinvest it into a 1 year CD. Then when the 1 year CD matures, again reinvest it into another 1 yr CD. As long as CDrates stay high then you will be making more money than purchasing one CD at a locked in rate. With this method you also have access to your money since there is always one CD maturing.
Make sure that you can live without this money since you can be penalized for early withdrawal of a CD (this is quite common for most banks).