Best CD, MM Rates & Bank Special Deals Thread 2022 - Please post updates here

[Gotadimple]

5-year CDs at Fidelity now 2.65%.
4-year 2.60%
3-year 2.55%

Just checked at Schwab. They are offering CDs in the same maturities and at the same rates as Fidelity.

- Rita

 

[jazz4cash]

I applied for a MYGA from A rated Americo Insurance (through Blueprint Income) today. 5 yrs @3.25%. Rates are going up daily, so it'll probably pay to dollar cost average into these fixed rate products.

 

[Dtail]

I applied for a MYGA from A rated Americo Insurance (through Blueprint Income) today. 5 yrs @3.25%. Rates are going up daily, so it'll probably pay to dollar cost average into these fixed rate products.

Do you apply directly through the Blueprint site, or just get the rates from there?
I have only used MYGA's through Fidelity, which is only the New York Life product I believe.
I am now more comfortable with an A rated product which has 35 bps over NYL.

 

[jazz4cash]

I apply with Blueprint. Annuity Steakhouse and immediateannuities.com generally all have the same products and terms. This is my 2nd Americo MYGA from Blueprint.

 

[jazz4cash]

I apply with Blueprint. Annuity Steakhouse and immediateannuities.com generally all have the same products and terms. This is my 2nd Americo MYGA from Blueprint.

Edit: Blueprint has the most consistent informative website IMO so its fairly easy to compare. Some of the others have links to the insurer website marketing material.

 

[John Galt III]

C'mon Penfed! You can do it! I'm waiting for Penfed to bump up to 3% on their 5 or 7 year CD. I already have a lot with them. I have my money at too many different places already, lol. Would be good to just add some more $$ to Penfed. Waiting.

 

[Montecfo]

Would be hard to lock money at 3 pct for 5-7 years, at least for me.

 

[pb4uski]

+1

 

[Chuckanut]

C'mon Penfed! You can do it! I'm waiting for Penfed to bump up to 3% on their 5 or 7 year CD. I already have a lot with them. I have my money at too many different places already, lol. Would be good to just add some more $$ to Penfed. Waiting.

My gut is telling me that many financial institutions, knowing how hungry savers are for a half descent interest rate, will dangle a lot of tempting very long term deals like 3% for 5+ years. They want to lock in what is still historically cheap money.

I keep remembering the interest rates of the mid 70's to early 80's where we did have high inflation, but interest rates on savings also soared (some to double digits) on things like T-bills and bonds. That helped to keep us from falling further behind. Not good, but not as bad as today where we are lucky to get 2+% in a world where inflation is more than 3x that.

 

[aja8888]

Keep in mind the FED has stated that there will be up to 6 more fed funds rate hikes this year. If they don't collapse on that, by the end of the year the rate should be near 2%. If that's the case, CD's may be paying 4% or higher. Certainly one year T Bills will be much higher as right now they will pay near 2%.

 

[disneysteve]

Keep in mind the FED has stated that there will be up to 6 more fed funds rate hikes this year. If they don't collapse on that, by the end of the year the rate should be near 2%. If that's the case, CD's may be paying 4% or higher. Certainly one year T Bills will be much higher as right now they will pay near 2%.

This is my thinking at the moment. I'm buying 1-yr instruments at around 2% figuring that when they mature, rates will likely be higher and I can roll them over to longer durations at that point. I just picked up a June 2023 T bill at 1.995% last week. I could get 3% if I go out 5 years but I don't feel that's worth it in the long run.

 

[aja8888]

This is my thinking at the moment. I'm buying 1-yr instruments at around 2% figuring that when they mature, rates will likely be higher and I can roll them over to longer durations at that point. I just picked up a June 2023 T bill at 1.995% last week. I could get 3% if I go out 5 years but I don't feel that's worth it in the long run.

I'm sticking with the one year ones right now and buying a $25 K one each month this year. As they roll off next year I plan to replace them with ones that have a higher yield.

If things get really nutty with interest rates going up, I will back up the truck on longer treasuries, maybe even 10 year.

 

[Perryinva]

FYI, Capitol One paid out the 12/17/21 start $450/50k bonuses on 4/1/22.

 

[24601NoMore]

I have some money in Navy Federal Credit Union that I want to transfer out to get some better interest. It looks like you have to initiate transfer from NFCU checking to an external checking and are limited to $5000 in a day up to $15,000 over 5 days. Seems pretty restricted. Could I do a larger transfer to someplace like Fidelity?

Can you initiate a "pull" from the other account you want to deposit into, vs a "push" from Navy?

I've used that to workaround these types of limits a bunch of times in the past and it seems to usually work.

Note that you'll need to setup the ACH link to Navy on the new account first, which usually takes a couple days to verify.

Hope that helps.

 

[24601NoMore]

Do you apply directly through the Blueprint site, or just get the rates from there?
I have only used MYGA's through Fidelity, which is only the New York Life product I believe.
I am now more comfortable with an A rated product which has 35 bps over NYL.

You apply directly via the BluePrint Income website and they handle everything, including sending you an overnight label that you use to send a check directly to the insurance carrier that you're going with. Blueprint never touches your funds.

Fidelity offers Mass Mutual, USAA, New York Life, Western and Southern and Guardian. All are A++ rated by AM Best, except W&S that's A+.

One perhaps not so obvious benefit of working with Fidelity is that you see the MYGA on your Fidelity customer portal along with your other accounts. With Blueprint, you need to log in to the insurance carrier's website. Not a big deal unless you have multiple MYGAs, then could be convenient.

I just opened our first MYGA with Fidelity and the process so far was a bit of a PITA with the rep over-promising what would happen. (Basically saying the MYGA would show on the Fidelity website and I'd start earning interest "a day or two, max after the funds are pulled". That didn't happen, and I was then told by a different rep that it could be up to 2 weeks "normally" - and that insurance companies are all getting slammed and behind right now, so it could be longer. I did make a bit of a stink about being told something different and lo and behold see the MYGA in my account this AM..which is the 4th business day after funds were pulled. Not horrible, but I would have much preferred the 1st rep to have been more upfront with me..)

I do get the impression from talking with them that the Blueprint guys are a bit more straight up, although they're a much smaller operation. Haven't opened a MYGA with them yet but continue to watch the rates. Next one will probably be with them.

Note that Blueprint was bought some time back (within the last year or two?) by Mass Mutual. Oddly, they don't at this time carry the Mass Mutual MYGAs. Fidelity does, and that's the one I just bought at 3% for 4-year and 3.2% for 5 year. Mass Mutual is a solid company financially and has been around forever. So I felt more comfortable with that as an option vs something like Americo or Oceanview.

I'm sticking with the one year ones right now and buying a $25 K one each month this year. As they roll off next year I plan to replace them with ones that have a higher yield.

If things get really nutty with interest rates going up, I will back up the truck on longer treasuries, maybe even 10 year.

It does seem like rates "should" be higher toward end of this year or even a year or so out, but there have been more than a few macro analysts (Stephanie Pomboy is one that I really respect) who seem pretty convinced that the Fed "can't" raise rates to the level they expect before they break something significant in the economy (like, cause a recession). The thinking appears to be at that point they'll not only stop raising, but will start lowering rates and re-institute another round of QE to try to fix what they broke.

Whether that will happen or not is anyone's guess, but I've heard more than a few very credible analysts that believe the Fed won't get beyond 1 - 1.5% or so FFR before they hit the wall in terms of ability to raise. Guess we'll find out soon enough..lots of signs out there that we may already be in a recession, and all it's going to take is a strong wind to push us into one if we're not already, so....(to that point, less than a month ago, the Atlanta Fed had Q1 GDP forecast at almost zero. They've upped their forecast a bit since then, but still...)

Since I suspect we may not get above 1-1.5% FFR before the Fed backs off, I'm scooping up some 3.2+% MYGAs. Bird in the hand and all that. I suspect we "might" see a little higher, but anything above 3 is compelling to me at this point in terms of the income I can then count on..

 

[JohnnyBGoode]

It is interesting that on my FIDO CD Research dashboard I see Ally Bank has 1 year CD's at 1.25%, 18 month CD's at 1.5%, and 2 year CD's at 2.3%. They are all starting 4/14/22. I don't know if those CD's are different from what you can buy through the ally.com site but it is interesting there is such a large disparity between what they are offering on their retail website and what you can buy through FIDO.

 

[Gotadimple]

but it is interesting there is such a large disparity between what they are offering on their retail website and what you can buy through FIDO.

Same for Schwab.
But! You might want to compare T-bill rates - from The Finance Buff recent email:

You can get a feel of where the yield might land by checking Daily Treasury Par Yield Curve Rates (click on the first link on the webpage). Here's the URL of the Treasury Interest Rate Yield Curve. Next auction is @4/21 and you can buy direct from the Treasury or thru Fidelity.
https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financing-the-government/interest-rate-statistics

 

[Montecfo]

Yes the 2 year Treasury looking pretty attractive, especially if the money is already at a brokerage.

Rates moving quite a bit now with Fed comments and minutes.

 

[Turbo29]

It is interesting that on my FIDO CD Research dashboard I see Ally Bank has 1 year CD's at 1.25%, 18 month CD's at 1.5%, and 2 year CD's at 2.3%. They are all starting 4/14/22. I don't know if those CD's are different from what you can buy through the ally.com site but it is interesting there is such a large disparity between what they are offering on their retail website and what you can buy through FIDO.

I noticed the same type of thing last week with CapitalOne brokered CDs on E*trade vs CDs offered on the CapitalOne website.

It may be because money obtained through brokered CDs is more firm. There is no such thing as an early withdrawal on a brokered CD (although the CD holder may sell the CD to someone else).

 

[JohnnyBGoode]

Yes, Montecfo, I see that a 2-year treasury would yield 2.53%. Is there any reason not to do that as opposed to a 2-year CD at 2.35%?

(Sorry, I'm a newbie on purchasing treasuries directly)

 

[disneysteve]

Yes, Montecfo, I see that a 2-year treasury would yield 2.53%. Is there any reason not to do that as opposed to a 2-year CD at 2.35%?

(Sorry, I'm a newbie on purchasing treasuries directly)

Depending on where you live, treasuries have an added advantage besides just the higher interest rate. They are tax free on the state and local level.

I can’t think of any reason to buy a CD over a treasury paying the same or higher interest.

 

[JohnnyBGoode]

Depending on where you live, treasuries have an added advantage besides just the higher interest rate. They are tax free on the state and local level.

I can’t think of any reason to buy a CD over a treasury paying the same or higher interest.

Great point. As I live in a state with a high state tax rate that does make it even more compelling. Thanks.

 

[Chuckanut]

Ally bank 1 yr CD rate is 0.75%. The 18 month rate is 1.25%. <-- that is their highest high yield CD rate.

 

[Dtail]

It is interesting that on my FIDO CD Research dashboard I see Ally Bank has 1 year CD's at 1.25%, 18 month CD's at 1.5%, and 2 year CD's at 2.3%. They are all starting 4/14/22. I don't know if those CD's are different from what you can buy through the ally.com site but it is interesting there is such a large disparity between what they are offering on their retail website and what you can buy through FIDO.

Ally just not currently competitive with CD rates. Perhaps they will develop into another Penfed.

 

[disneysteve]

Ally bank 1 yr CD rate is 0.75%. The 18 month rate is 1.25%. <-- that is their highest high yield CD rate.

But you can buy an 18-month Treasury for a full point higher at 2.27%. Not really any good reason to buy a CD right now.