High(er)-rate CD deals

[Tadpole]

I had a cd mature yesterday and another tomorrow. I managed to point them to the 15 month rollover. Thanks!

[John Galt III]

When you guys are buying cds online what info are you entering? Are you doing an EFT from your checking account? ACH transfer? Mailing in a check? Do they ask for your SSN? I'd rather mail them a check so I don't have my checking account number floating around on the internet.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Galt III When you guys are buying cds online what info are you entering? Are you doing an EFT from your checking account? ACH transfer? Mailing in a check? Do they ask for your SSN? I'd rather mail them a check so I don't have my checking account number floating around on the internet.

Most give you options of how to fund. You usually can select this when you open the account. I do mine via EFT which I much prefer over a check floating around in the mail.

My checking account number is not "floating around on the Internet" - at least not unencrypted. The session with the financial institution is encrypted.

Yes they ask your SSN. They have to as they must file 1099-INTs with the IRS.

[kaneohe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Galt III Anyone have any comments on the ease or difficulty of dealing with these banks and credit unions, as far as buying a CD? I've read reviews online and Patelco and Barclays are generally liked by customers. But some others got very bad reviews, like Discover and Synchrony, with clueless customer service people, money temporarily vanishing, conflicting instructions, etc. When I opened my PenFed account for the 3 % 5 year cd a few years ago, it was fairly straightforward. Thanks

My memory tells me that the bad reviews for Synchrony were mostly related to their credit card dealings, not the banking side. My experience has been mostly positive on the banking side. The only problem I've had is that in handling written instructions for an IRA withdrawal , somehow they managed to lose the signature page before scanning (I claim that I stapled them together and they never confirmed whether there was forensic evidence.....staple holes....or not). Also they seem to give mixed messages: send all correspondence to our new handling center in Atlanta on one mailing but the statement continues to show mailing address in New Jersey months after they were informed of the issue........and they seem to be somewhat slow in handling the mail.

[aja8888]

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Galt III When you guys are buying cds online what info are you entering? Are you doing an EFT from your checking account? ACH transfer? Mailing in a check? Do they ask for your SSN? I'd rather mail them a check so I don't have my checking account number floating around on the internet.

You would be surprised as to what information about you and your personal life is already available on the internet, most provided by you and your internet connection. As Audrey stated, all the transaction details when applying for the CD is encrypted.

[Dave J]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jazz4cash Some of my older Penfed IRA CDs waive the early withdrawal penalty when you get to 59.5 yrs of age. I think they omitted that feature for newer CDs but I am going to contact them to verify. Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

I have been a member of PenFed for many years. They have allowed partial redemption's from certificates as long as you leave $1000 in the certificate until it matures.
I can verify I have done this after age 59.5 with zero penalty. The current wording on IRA certificate application is copied below. They are not offering the 15 month special on IRA's. I verified this in writing from Penfed about 10 days ago.

*Partial withdrawals for members over the age 59 1/2 (including Required Minimum Distributions) and qualified distributions regardless of age (including Disability) may be processed from IRA certificates without incurring an early redemption penalty.

[jazz4cash]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave J I have been a member of PenFed for many years. They have allowed partial redemption's from certificates as long as you leave $1000 in the certificate until it matures. I can verify I have done this after age 59.5 with zero penalty. The current wording on IRA certificate application is copied below. They are not offering the 15 month special on IRA's. I verified this in writing from Penfed about 10 days ago. *Partial withdrawals for members over the age 59 1/2 (including Required Minimum Distributions) and qualified distributions regardless of age (including Disability) may be processed from IRA certificates without incurring an early redemption penalty.

Thanks. This is a really good option to have and you just saved me a lot of time on the phone with them!

[Dave J]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Another Reader The website www.depositaccounts.com is the most comprehensive source of rates I have found. I would have seen the PenFed deal the next time I checked, but deals are so rare these days that I only check about once a week.

Plus 1 on depositaccounts.com

Someone posted about 10 days before PenFed had the 1.5 %Cd that it was coming. It was in the coments to the post about the NavyFed 2.5% CD.

Good site, as is this one.

[ShokWaveRider]

I am still running on 3% PenFed 5 Year CDs from 3 years ago......

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rosie Hi folks, I was thinking it might be helpful to post info about CD deals and rate promotions in one thread. They tend to come & go fairly quickly. (If there is already such a thread here, I applogize -- let me know & I'll delete this). I'll start: PenFed recently announced a 15-month CD (1.51% APY), minimum deposit $1K, with no maximum balance cap. More details here

[Rosie]

FYI, the PenFed 15-month CD special is over;
according to the fine folks at depositaccounts.com, as of 1/30/16 the rate dropped from 1.51% down to 1.26%. So it goes.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rosie FYI, the PenFed 15-month CD special is over; according to the fine folks at depositaccounts.com, as of 1/30/16 the rate dropped from 1.51% down to 1.26%. So it goes.

I figured it would be really really short. If they'd come out with that offer just a week earlier, I probably would have left more money with them (one of the CDs I had just bought was a 1.3% rate for 13 months). I was just lucky that I happened to leave a little behind. I knew I had better jump on it immediately or it would disappear.

The good thing is that as long as you open the account, even if there is a delay in funding it, you can still usually get the rate. And they make it easy to transfer the funds from an outside account.

As that article mentions, I noticed in my agreement that the language used on the penalties for PenFed CDs has changed quite a bit.

Quote:

Certificates Having a Term Greater Than Six Months: If redeemed within the first year, all dividends will be forfeited. If redeemed thereafter, but prior to the maturity date, the early withdrawal penalty will equal 30% of what would have been earned if the certificate had been held to maturity, not to exceed total dividends earned.

[jazz4cash]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rosie FYI, the PenFed 15-month CD special is over; according to the fine folks at depositaccounts.com, as of 1/30/16 the rate dropped from 1.51% down to 1.26%. So it goes.

• May as well go out to 24 months and get 1.41% at Penfed.
• NASA FCU is at 1.3% for 15 months and 2.3% for 49 months.
• NASA 12 mo rate is .35% and the 48 mo is .80%!

What's the deal with the odd term periods on these specials? I guess it gets your attention and makes it easy to keep the regular term rates steady.

[audreyh1]

Oops - I guess the Synchrony Bank 1.3% 14 month CD is also gone.

[Rosie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Galt III I'd rather mail them a check so I don't have my checking account number floating around on the internet.

FWIW, most banks and credit card providers enable alerts to be set up, so you receive an email &/or text msg whenever there is some sort of activity on your account. You can usually specify what kinds of activities trigger an alert. When all is well it'll simply inform you of transactions you initiated yourself or were already aware of, and you delete the message. But on the off chance something looks fishy, at least you get an early heads up.

I realize that's not a perfect solution, but it's worth considering.

[Rosie]

I was checking the depositacounts.com blog and came across this entry, which was posted yesterday (Feb 3):

USALLIANCE Financial Continues To Offer Top Rate 15-Month CD

It's a 15-month Fixed Certificate Special at 1.51% APY, Min $500, Max $100k

Details about eligibility, how to join, withdrawal penalties, etc are discussed in the link above, and other links provided therein.

[Rosie]

The CD Rates Summary on depositaccounts.com, generally updated bi-weekly, is an interesting read for those so inclined.

Here's the most recent entry (this link always goes to the most recent entry, which as of this writing is for Feb 2):

CD Rates Summary

An excerpt, pertaining to CD rates:

Quote:

Last month has shown why CD ladders make sense. When it seemed almost guaranteed that rates would be rising in 2016, conditions started to change. Trying to predict future interest rates is very difficult. By using CD ladders, you don’t have to worry about interest rate predictions. You just renew your long-term CDs with new long-term CDs. Of course, it always make sense to choose new CDs with mild early withdrawal penalties, especially if you don’t have to sacrifice yields. Don’t forget that your existing CDs that renew may have higher early withdrawal penalties. In addition to checking the rate of the new CD, you should also check the latest CD disclosure. You may find out that the early withdrawal penalty has increased substantially. In that case, you should consider moving your money during the grace period.

[jazz4cash]

24 Month bump up rate: 1.5 apy
www.info.reverebank.com/cd

[John Galt III]

Got a card in the mail yesterday from Santander Bank. 5 year CD rate is 2.20%.

[Another Reader]

NASA credit union still offers 2.3 percent 49 month CD's per depositaccounts.com. It's easy to join.

BBVA offers a 1.35 percent 13 month CD, not too bad, and a 1.20 money market account with no monthly fee as long as you keep $10,000 in the account. These accounts can be opened in person or on-line.

[harley]

Wake me up if something hits 5%.