First the good news: The nationwide rate leader across all CD terms is holding steady, offering you the opportunity to lock in a record return of 5.75% APY for 9 months with Andrews Federal Credit Union. Or if you have a jumbo-sized deposit of $100,000 or more, you can earn that stellar rate for 11 months with Sun East Federal Credit Union.
Unfortunately, we also lost a term leader today. The credit union offering last week’s best 3-year rate no longer accepts customers from outside its region, effectively dropping today’s top nationwide rate in the 3-year term from 5.25% APY to 5.13% APY, available from U.S. Senate Federal Credit Union.
Key Takeaways
- The top rate across terms in our daily ranking of the best CDs is holding firm at 5.75% APY, available on a 9-month certificate, or 11 months if you can make a jumbo-sized deposit.
- Our “Benchmark Leaders” group of CDs paying at least 5.50% APY gained an option today, raising the count to 16 certificates.
- The top 3-year rate fell from 5.25% to 5.13% APY. That’s the longest term on which you can earn 5.00% APY or more, unless you have a jumbo-sized deposit that qualifies for 5.12% APY on four years.
- The Federal Reserve will not meet again on interest rates for six weeks, and it’s unknown at this time whether or not they’ll push the federal funds rate—and therefore CD rates—higher this year.
To help you earn as much as possible, here are the top CD rates available from our partners, followed by more information on the best-paying CDs that are available to U.S. customers everywhere.
If you want to enjoy one of today’s high rates for an extended period, you have two long-term options that earn at least 5.00%. You can score 5.13% APY with the leader in our best 3-year CDs ranking, or if you have at least $100,000 to deposit in a jumbo CD, you can stretch that to four years for a comparable rate of 5.12% APY.
Tip
Despite the suggestion that a larger deposit entitles you to a higher return, that’s not always the case for jumbo certificate rates, which often pay less than standard CDs. Today’s best jumbo offers, which typically require a deposit of $100,000 or more, do beat the best standard rates in five CD terms, but in the other three you can do just as well or better with a standard CD. So always be sure to shop every certificate type before making a final decision.
Will CD Rates Climb Higher This Year?
CD rates are already at record levels, but it’s possible they could edge higher still. That’s because the Federal Reserve announced another 0.25% increase in the federal funds rate on July 26. That matters because the central bank’s benchmark rate is a direct driver of the yields that banks and credit unions are willing to pay customers for their deposits.
Since March 2022, the Federal Reserve has been aggressively combating decades-high inflation, making 11 hikes to the fed funds rate over the past 12 meetings. With the latest bump, the cumulative increase totals 5.25% and brings the fed funds rate to its highest level since 2001. That’s created a boon for CD shoppers, as well as for anyone holding cash in a high-yield savings or money market account.
The July Fed announcement provided no strong indications on whether it will raise its benchmark rate even higher this year. The written announcement simply reiterated the Fed’s commitment to bring inflation back down to its target level of 2%.
In his post-announcement press conference, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell indicated that the rate-setting committee has not made any decisions yet on whether to raise rates again in 2023, or if so, what timing or pace any increases would follow.
For now, it’s reasonable to expect that the latest hike—as well as any potential future increases—will push CD rates a bit higher. But the impact could be small because the Fed’s July move had been nearly certain since June, and many banks and credit unions boosted their rates in advance. Once it finally appears the Fed is ready to end its rate-hike campaign for good, that will be the signal that CD rates have likely reached their peak.
Note that the “top rates” quoted here are the highest nationally available rates Investopedia has identified in its daily rate research on hundreds of banks and credit unions. This is much different than the national average, which includes all banks offering a CD with that term, including many large banks that pay a pittance in interest. Thus, the national averages are always quite low, while the top rates you can unearth by shopping around are often five, 10, or even 15 times higher.
Rate Collection Methodology Disclosure
Every business day, Investopedia tracks the rate data of more than 200 banks and credit unions that offer CDs to customers nationwide and determines daily rankings of the top-paying certificates in every major term. To qualify for our lists, the institution must be federally insured (FDIC for banks, NCUA for credit unions), and the CD’s minimum initial deposit must not exceed $25,000.
Banks must be available in at least 40 states. And while some credit unions require you to donate to a specific charity or association to become a member if you don’t meet other eligibility criteria (e.g., you don’t live in a certain area or work in a certain kind of job), we exclude credit unions whose donation requirement is $40 or more. For more about how we choose the best rates, read our full methodology.
Source: https://www.investopedia.com/top-cd-rates-today-less-than-8-7-prep-greater-than-7570444?utm_campaign=quote-yahoo&utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=referral&yptr=yahoo