Best CD & MM Rates Thread 2018 Archive

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pb4uski said:
One thing to remember to do (I just did this the other day).... get online and set your PenFed CDs so that they don't automatically renew under the More account info and actions and then Certificate Options.

thank you for the reminder. I have some coming due soon.
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fosterscik said:
The nice part is that Vanguard's VMMXX mirrors these T-bill/CD/savings rate increases: now 2.22%.
I find it especially convenient to leave my liquid funds with my broker rather than chasing offers at various locations.
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Well, according to my spreadsheet, my weighted APR in my cash/CD accounts is 2.55% and the weighted maturity is 234 days (0.64 years). That is including some cash in brokerage accounts and traditional credit union accounts that is yielding 0%, and some in high yield savings/Money market so that I could pay an unexpected expense w/o breaking a CD.

I only bring this up in that there can be some value in chasing, in this case a 14.8% higher return (2.55-2.22)/2.22 while still keeping a relatively short term duration. (This is $330 per year per $100,000 invested.)
 
Chuckanut said:
I hope you are correct. That would give us a fighting chance of beating inflation with some real gains after taxes.
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Um? What? If rates get to 5%, then I think inflation will be at least that much. If we are making crazy wishes, how about the 15% CDs that could be had in 1979? That would be fantastic...right? ;)
 
ExFlyBoy5 said:
Um? What? If rates get to 5%, then I think inflation will be at least that much. If we are making crazy wishes, how about the 15% CDs that could be had in 1979? That would be fantastic...right? ;)
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Well a 30 year Treasury Bond from the late 70's wouldn't have been too bad.
 
Problem is interest rarely stay very high for extended periods. You probably could not get a 30 year for those high rates at the time. I remember when I first came to North America in 82 that interest rates were way up. I purchased a 2 year at some high rate and rented an apartment. When it matured, I purchased a car cash and put a down payment on a condo with the interest alone. Those were the days, I think the condo was like $30k for a 3 bed 3 bath with a basement. :sigh:
 
copyright1997reloaded said:
Well, according to my spreadsheet, my weighted APR in my cash/CD accounts is 2.55% and the weighted maturity is 234 days (0.64 years). That is including some cash in brokerage accounts and traditional credit union accounts that is yielding 0%, and some in high yield savings/Money market so that I could pay an unexpected expense w/o breaking a CD.

I only bring this up in that there can be some value in chasing, in this case a 14.8% higher return (2.55-2.22)/2.22 while still keeping a relatively short term duration. (This is $330 per year per $100,000 invested.)
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Equivalent to about one hour of time if you value yours as Darrow does: https://www.caniretireyet.com

Is it worth the time you spend to earn the $330?
 
Ally Bank 11 month no penalty CD 2.20%
12 month CD 2.65%
18 Month CD 2.70% ($25k+)
 
Huston55 said:
Equivalent to about one hour of time if you value yours as Darrow does: https://www.caniretireyet.com

Is it worth the time you spend to earn the $330?
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That was a very interesting article, thanks. Along with the comments. I'm not sure I understood his conclusions though in terms of where he felt safest stashing his cash.
 
Make sure you stay on top of any CD's issued by GS/Marcus. I let one slip because I got no notice and it renewed at a well below market rate. Fortunately, I caught it during the grace period, but no notice.

And thanks to whoever posted you could opt out of renewing PenFed CD's on-line. They were on my "to do" list for early December. Now done.
 
Did agree with his idea of reducing the number of institutions. Am also trying to keep it to a minimum and still get a decent return. Always a struggle as great rates are offered at times to get new customers. At places you would seldom think to invest with.
 
Another Reader said:
Make sure you stay on top of any CD's issued by GS/Marcus. I let one slip because I got no notice and it renewed at a well below market rate. Fortunately, I caught it during the grace period, but no notice.

And thanks to whoever posted you could opt out of renewing PenFed CD's on-line. They were on my "to do" list for early December. Now done.
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Yeah - that’s really important. Ally and PenFed have been easy to deal with in this regard because you can change the renewal options online. PenFed lets you set up no renewal when you open the CD. Synchrony is more of a pain, because you have to call in to not renew, but you can do this in advance and don’t have to wait until the CD matures.
 
audreyh1 said:
That was a very interesting article, thanks. Along with the comments. I'm not sure I understood his conclusions though in terms of where he felt safest stashing his cash.
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Apparently he does not consider "treasury only" money market funds, such as VUSXX, to be safe, nor does he like on-line banks because they might use bait and switch. As a result, he accepts an interest rate that guarantees he will lose out to inflation over the period he intends to hold so he can "simplify." The fear creeping into his thought process is unsettling.
 
audreyh1 said:
That was a very interesting article, thanks. Along with the comments. I'm not sure I understood his conclusions though in terms of where he felt safest stashing his cash.
Click to expand...

almost there said:
Did agree with his idea of reducing the number of institutions. Am also trying to keep it to a minimum and still get a decent return. Always a struggle as great rates are offered at times to get new customers. At places you would seldom think to invest with.
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Another Reader said:
Apparently he does not consider "treasury only" money market funds, such as VUSXX, to be safe, nor does he like on-line banks because they might use bait and switch. As a result, he accepts an interest rate that guarantees he will lose out to inflation over the period he intends to hold so he can "simplify." The fear creeping into his thought process is unsettling.
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First, I’m a big DK fan. I think his blog has excellent, well thought out and practical advice. Hey, what else would we expect from a Civil Engineer!?! ;)

But, I also did not completely agree with his approach which, in all fairness, he seems to be still finalizing. In particular, I do keep $$$ in a MMF (FZDXX), which has a good rate & is easy as pie to use. We link it to our Core Account and every $ earns the FZDXX yield until it’s consumed to pay a bill. I am also a CD ladder fan and, we have a medium length ladder.

However, I did agree with the overall concept of the blog post: (1) simplify [we’ve done that & are down to two institutions - Fido & PFCU] and; (2) my time has value [I like the idea of quantifying the value of my time to see if it makes sense for me to spend some on a particular thing. IOW, is it worth the candle?]
 
Another Reader said:
Apparently he does not consider "treasury only" money market funds, such as VUSXX, to be safe, nor does he like on-line banks because they might use bait and switch. As a result, he accepts an interest rate that guarantees he will lose out to inflation over the period he intends to hold so he can "simplify." The fear creeping into his thought process is unsettling.
Click to expand...

Well - he cuts out a lot of options. I've had accounts at several online savings banks and never experienced a "bait and switch" - although it does sound like the top interest rate banks do pull that stunt and even CIT has apparently changed account types forcing customers to move funds to get better rates.

Also - I would never consider a government type money market fund let alone treasuries only money market to be inferior to any FDIC insured account.

There are more concerns with a Prime Money Market fund. Regulations are much stricter these days, and they have safeguards to slow fund movements during times of crisis to avoid float. So I wouldn't be too worried, but I agree they are not the same as treasuries only or FDIC insured accounts.

It was interesting his concerns reading reviews about Ally Bank. In general they get some of the highest reviews for online banks, and I have never seen any kind of bait and switch stunt. You have to take reviews with a grain of salt and compare bank reviews. You read much worse reviews of other online banks. Ally is super easy to work with online.

Another thing - these banks may go to overseas customer support. But I bet when you talk to their fraud department you are talking to a US team because that's just way too sensitive. That was a very scary story about his savings withdrawal fraud issue, and it didn't sound like it was an online bank where he had the problem.

Looks like at the end he updated his blog to say he'd decided the Vanguard Prime MM fund would be a good option for him.

About simplification - I only moved into CDs and online savings accounts because yields on money market funds had become so abysmal back in 2013 plus the temporary protection for MM funds had expired. Now that things are gradually normalizing, I'll probably eventually go back to perhaps just one high yield savings accounts, drop the credit unions, and use MM funds plus CDs and Treasuries purchased through my brokerage. But I'm in no hurry. With things set up already, it's minimal effort to move funds and super easy to take advantage of things like the recent Ally offer. But I've drawn the line at opening accounts any new CU or bank for bonuses or the latest high yield CD offering.
 
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CD ladder at Connexus looks like the landing place for my PenFed 5yr CD's
 
Huston55 said:
Equivalent to about one hour of time if you value yours as Darrow does: https://www.caniretireyet.com

Is it worth the time you spend to earn the $330?
Click to expand...

While you might be right, I can't help myself. :greetings10:

After all, I am a dirty market timer and rate chaser.

Also a techno-geek, so I have about 20 tabs in my google portfolio and asset tracking spreadsheet - to the point that it (google) struggles to update the cells w/o delay. I have detailed lot holdings, summaries by symbol, various pivot tables (e.g. sorted by % change, $ change, ..., and so on.) (The equities all use Google finance api's to update pricing and other data.)
 
pb4uski said:
One thing to remember to do (I just did this the other day).... get online and set your PenFed CDs so that they don't automatically renew under the More account info and actions and then Certificate Options.

Like SWR, I'll probably park mine in VMMXX for a bit and wait out the rise in rates rather than lock in at this time... I'm just a dirty market timer.
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Ditto!
 
My name is Freebird. Hi Freebird. I am a filthy rate shopper.
 
PenFed Premium Online Savings Account rate increase to 1.85%.
 
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