6.25% CD ?

[Craig]

brewer, surprises me as well.

Thanks for the heads-up ... purchased my first PenFed CD after reading about them here. Perhaps that penalty will be worth it.

[mmg2681]

I just checked this morning:
This is from PenFed's website.
This is affordable enough for even ME to invest in. I am really excited.



MONEY MARKET CERTIFICATE RATES

Term Dividend
Rate APY

6-Month 3.96% 4.00%

1-Year 4.24% 4.33%

2-Year 4.66% 4.76%

3-Year 6.07% 6.25%

4-Year 6.07% 6.25%

5-Year 6.07% 6.25%

7-Year 6.07% 6.25%

$1,000 minimum deposit

Effective December 28, 2006 - January 31, 2007

APY = Annual Percentage Yield

[Dawg52]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mmg2681 Effective December 28, 2006 - January 31, 2007 APY = Annual Percentage Yield

I'm happy too but disappointed it's not for 3 months as the rumour implied. I'm gonna have to sell something now to load up the truck. I guess I will replace what I sell with new money I have coming in the 1st quarter.

[mmg2681]

Not so good for me...you have to be part of the military, which I am not.

~M

[Dawg52]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mmg2681 Not so good for me...you have to be part of the military, which I am not. ~M

All you have to do is join some organization that is shown on the website. Cost $20. I just did it a few days ago.

[Goonie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DOG52 All you have to do is join some organization that is shown on the website. Cost $20. I just did it a few days ago.

Yep, Nat'l Military Family Assoc. (NMFA)...just looked into that. You can join as a "Concerned Citizen" for $20.

[Dawg52]

Question on selling a cd within my brokerage account. If you have one that pays the interest at maturity, do you lose all the interest of just a portion of it? I got a couple that pays monthly and a couple that pays upon maturity. Never sold one before.

[REWahoo]

Dog, the penalty for early withdrawal (from a CD :) is usually the loss of 3 or 6 months interest. Whether the interest is paid monthly or at maturity shouldn't have any bearing on the amount of penalty, but only the paperwork you signed will confirm that for you.

[Nords]

For those of you considering PenFed membership, I dragged my feet for a year because it seemed to be too much of a hassle to join (and apparently it was also too much of a hassle to haul my butt out of the recliner to make the 20-minute drive to our local PFCU branch). You used to have to join their NMFA affiliate separately and then mail PFCU your NMFA membership card, but now PFCU's website lets you do it all online over their website in one step. So I joined them a couple months ago and it was painless. Between the PFCU website and a phone call to Fidelity to determine the numbers for an EFT, the process took less than 30 minutes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DOG52 Question on selling a cd within my brokerage account. If you have one that pays the interest at maturity, do you lose all the interest of just a portion of it? I got a couple that pays monthly and a couple that pays upon maturity. Never sold one before.

Yikes, the brokerage has no reason to be your friend. You'll probably do better asking them that question on the phone to see if they'll match PenFed before they gore you on the penalties.

If NFCU can't match this offer then we're going to redeem a 5% five-year CD, which will cost six months' interest but which will also let us break it into smaller chunks instead of their $20K minimum.

Heck, I guess we should consider cashing in a big slice of our 9th-grader's college fund. It's strange-- I never doubted that spouse & I would reach the distribution phase of our ER portfolio, but this is the first time that I've seen the light at the end of the college-savings tunnel!

Adding this offer to PFCU's previous CD special, when we're done we'll be earning over 6% on our ER portfolio's allocation of a years' expenses in CDs.

We also have 28+ years to go on a NFCU 30-year mortgage fixed at 5.375%. Hmmmm.

[skipper]

Hi,
Enjoy reading the posts here and learning a lot. Thank you!
Have a question about a CD in personal money. (not an IRA, etc)
For a 3 yr. CD, are the taxes on the interest paid yearly, or are they due in
the year the CD matures?

[wabmester]

Quote:

Originally Posted by skipper For a 3 yr. CD, are the taxes on the interest paid yearly, or are they due in the year the CD matures?

You'll get a 1099-INT each year. Interest earned is fully taxable each year at both the state and fed level.

[jazz4cash]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords PFCU's website lets you do it all online over their website in one step.  

Ok, thanks to this boards CD Rate Early Warning System, I am taking the plunge (maybe).  The link to the Natl Military Family Assoc even states that you don't have to maintain the membership to retain eligibility for the credit union...so it's a $20 donation (reduces first yr APY to 6.05), only they never give any options for funding the donation.  I assume I'll get something in the mail.  Beyond that, I am still considering my options to actually fund the account....the rate is very compelling in terms of the fixed income AA.

Nords, I'll be standing by to hear if NFCU matches PenFed............

[mmg2681]

I actually called PenFed, and they stated I could join the NMFA.
No one is taking the lifetime membership? My frugal ways tell me that is way too much money.

I was wondering how that worked - pay just $20 and be able to invest for the entire year? If I want to invest next year, I would have to pay again. I was thinking about the 3 year, and then investing as much as I can in these 3 years, and then worry about what to do after that.

Thank you everyone for the great info.

~M

[d]

you only need to join for 1 yr ... once your with PenFed, you no longer need to be a member of NMFA. as i recall, you can join NMFA at the same time you apply for the CD

[mmg2681]

Yes, you can apply for NMFA when you apply for the CD.

Sounds good to me!
I think I'm in!

Thank you, everyone.

~M

[73ss454]

I joined today, no big deal. Did it over the phone and will now do a wire transfer from Vanguard tomorrow to open the CD. The folks at PenFed were very good and helped every way they could.

$20 is for a lifetime membership even though the site says 1 year. I don't really understand why but no reason to spend the $300 for lifetime, at least that's what I understood from the person who helped me at PenFed.

[brewer12345]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 73ss454 $20 is for a lifetime membership even though the site says 1 year. I don't really understand why but no reason to spend the $300 for lifetime, at least that's what I understood from the person who helped me at PenFed.

The source of confusion is that there are two separate organizations: the credit union (Pen Fed), and an advocacy group (NMFA). Assuming you don't otherwise qualify to joing the credit union, you have to become a member of the NMFA to join the credit union. But once you are a credit union member, it is for life, regardless of whether you maintain membership with the NMFA. So you can join the NMFA for life if you wish to support their cause and fork over $300, but it isn't necessary to do so to become a lifetime Pen Fed member.

[Tadpole]

The "Apply Now" button on the CD page at PenFed is taking me to a loan application page and not a CD buying page. Anyone else tried to make a buy of these CDs?

[OAG]

Tadpole: Site works fine but, just call them at the 1-800 number. They will take care of you on the phone.

[d]

everything seems to be working okay ... but everything is also very slow loading ... i suspect they're rather busy (with these rates)