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

[NomDeER]

But interest isn't compounded.

I suppose that makes a critical difference if the interests rates are higher or the term is longer.

The big difference is what happens if you must sell before maturity. Unlike a direct CD which has an early penalty for early withdrawal, a brokered CD must be sold in the secondary market. Like a bond, the value could be higher or lower depending on the coupon vs prevailing interest rates.

I am looking for someplace to put cash I don't need for at least a year. Some of it for maybe two years. In that case, the liquidity isn't really an issue. But, since being able to cancel or sell the CD is not an issue for me, given the current rates of brokered CDs and T Bills, it probably makes sense to go with T Bills. This would especially be true once broker fees are factored in along with any potentially applicable state taxes.

 

[audreyh1]

Right now T-bills are running ahead in yields as is typical at the short end while interest rates are rising. Once they settle down CDs generally pay more.

Also the secondary market for treasuries is quite liquid, so that does give some flexibility if needed.

You don’t get to reinvest interest in your treasury either. You are paid the coupon, if any, and the par amount at maturity.

 

[pletal]

I have not found any risks or drawbacks at all. I just make sure they are non callable,
and insured by the FDIC. Seems 99.9% of new issue are non callable.
And all new issue CD's I have seen at Schwab are insured by the FDIC. (its easy to check)
Most are bank CD's, just sold through a brokerage. But at better rates than offered directly through the bank?
Its super easy, just pick the one you want and click. Its done.
But interest isn't compounded. It goes directly into an IRA cash account.
Or cash account for non IRA accounts. I have all 3 types. IRA, ROTH, and cash/sav brokered CD's.
Most pay twice a year, some monthly and some annually.
And that works for me as I plan to start taking the interest soon.
Selling early is not the same as it gets listed on the market. And bid on.
And you get an offer you can either accept or reject.
The only one I ended early, I actually made a small amount on.
As new issue CD rates were lower than the one I wanted to sell.
But it goes both ways..
I listed Schwab's screen shot above up a few posts. They seem to follow interest rates faster, both to the upside and the downside. .
I am going to start taking IRA distributions Jan 2024 at 62..
I just set up an IRA / 5 yr cd ladder at Schwab last month. 3.25% average. Got a 3.5% 5yr, 3.4% 3 yr and 4yr. last month.
Today its 3.4% on the 5 yr. But expect it to go higher after the next rate hike.
Plan to take all the interest, and what ever else I want every year from the one that comes due.
Then put the balance into a new 5 yr. Went that route for simplicity. Also made a 30k and a 60k CD.
For Roth conversions. The 30k I converted last week. The 60k is for 2023.
Still have some 3.4 and 3.5% Roth CDs and Cash cds at Navy and PenFed.
Will see where they are at when due in 2023 & 2024. And go from there.
But have had both Credit union, Bank and Brokered CD's for quite a while.
Never had a problem with any. I just go with the best rates I can find. So far its been great.
As I am no longer swinging for the fence. Past 5 yrs returned 3.5%.
Am thinking it will be about the same for the next 5 yrs. Good enough for me.

You sound like me. 3.5 return in safe investments. Hopefully the rates will rise some more. I am enjoying the MYGA rates. Have cd’s coming due that were at 2.6 percent. Getting 4.5 will be great

 

[pletal]

Here are the latest MYGA rates from Blueprint. 5year up to 4.5%. I am waiting till the end of the month to get more. I am hoping for 5%.

https://www.blueprintincome.com/

Gotta love it. I based my retirement on a 2.5 percent return over 35 years! I may go 10 years on some of my MYGA purchase even if it’s a little lower return.

 

[Earl E Retyre]

Here are the latest MYGA rates from Blueprint. 5year up to 4.5%. I am waiting till the end of the month to get more. I am hoping for 5%.



https://www.blueprintincome.com/

If I could lock in 4.5% for 5 years, I would be thrilled!! Problem is that I have never even heard of MYGAs until now and am worried that it is not federally insured like CDs. So, I am waiting in the hopes that CDs rise just a little bit more. 5 year CDs are at 3.5%, so just 1 more percent. I am assuming for an MYGA to lose money that the underlying insurance company would have to go belly up. Don’t know what type of events would need to occur for that to happen. But sounds a little risky to me.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

If I could lock in 4.5% for 5 years, I would be thrilled!! Problem is that I have never even heard of MYGAs until now and am worried that it is not federally insured like CDs. So, I am waiting in the hopes that CDs rise just a little bit more. 5 year CDs are at 3.5%, so just 1 more percent. I am assuming for an MYGA to lose money that the underlying insurance company would have to go belly up. Don’t know what type of events would need to occur for that to happen. But sounds a little risky to me.

We were like you also, until we researched them. In Florida they are guaranteed by the State's Guarantee Association up to $250k per contract per company per person. All companies that sell in Florida have to be members of and pay into them. But there are so very few Life insurance companies that have required a payment by them. I called them when I was doing my DD on MYGAs. Think of all the folks that have Life Annuities (SPIAs or SPDAs with them getting payments for life. We still stick to companies that are A rated or above, although with the Guarantee you really do not have to, B++ would be OK. Not really much different from Corporate Bonds, the Stock Market, etc, but with a State Guarantee that those do not enjoy.

Call Stan and char to him, he will answer all of your questions and concerns.

https://www.stantheannuityman.com/myga-rates

 

[pb4uski]

If I could lock in 4.5% for 5 years, I would be thrilled!! Problem is that I have never even heard of MYGAs until now and am worried that it is not federally insured like CDs. So, I am waiting in the hopes that CDs rise just a little bit more. 5 year CDs are at 3.5%, so just 1 more percent. I am assuming for an MYGA to lose money that the underlying insurance company would have to go belly up. Don’t know what type of events would need to occur for that to happen. But sounds a little risky to me.

Actually, IMO its not very risky at all, but it is more risky than FDIC insured accounts which are credit risk free.

Insurers have reserves and surplus and are closely regulated. Not only are insurer insolvencies rare, policyholders losing money is even rarer. Unless state insurance regulators are sleeping, their surveliance practices should flag troubled insurers and they take the keys long before policyholder money is at risk. When I was working in the industry it was said that no annuity polcyholder had ever lost a penny of principal or of guaranteed interest... in some cases they might not have received the contractual rate of interest but did receive their principal and the guaranteed rate of interest... and those instances would be very, very rare.

Commonly, once a regulator takes over they sell/transfer blocks of policies to healthy insurers... the blocks of business that they can't sell are usually really bad.

And on top of that there are guaranty funds for each state that function similar to FDIC insurance to fill in any gaps.

I would view an MYGA from a highly rated insurer as being of similar risk to a AAA or AA rated corporate bond. YMMV.

 

[almost there]

Gotta love it. I based my retirement on a 2.5 percent return over 35 years! I may go 10 years on some of my MYGA purchase even if it’s a little lower return.

Same. Even ran my ret. at a 0% return. So 2-3-4% is fine.
The only thing I have to do is not lose any $$$. LOL LOL

 

[jazz4cash]

If I could lock in 4.5% for 5 years, I would be thrilled!! Problem is that I have never even heard of MYGAs until now and am worried that it is not federally insured like CDs.

There are many of us here that had the same concern, especially after hearing so many times that ALL annuities are bad. I even started a thread to help understand the product and process.

That’s not to say CD’s won’t hit your target rate in the future but you may also need options to stay within insurance limits. Some of the MYGA issuers are very well known but several are obscure.

Starting MYGA Investment
https://www.early-retirement.org/forums/showthread.php?p=2511133

 

[JoeWras]

There are many of us here that had the same concern, especially after hearing so many times that ALL annuities are bad. I even started a thread to help understand the product and process.

It is like saying all food is bad. We have raw food, cooked food, processed food, and so on.

MYGAs kind of stand alone in the world of annuities.

My dad got a few in the 2000s and I was a bit alarmed, until I studied and found out how an MYGA works. Sure, there's always a risk with a non FDIC insured product, but it is pretty low when you have well known companies.

I have to say when we inherited the MYGA in 2014 after dad passed, and rates had cratered, I appreciated the option to "let it ride" for 5 more years at 5% interest. The 5 year window also allowed me to dump the earnings in my post-retirement year. The interest deferral action is something you have to learn to manage.

Oh, one more thing: the options available to us on inheriting it were diverse and confusing. This is where MYGAs get nearly as complicated as some of the other annuity products.

 

[jazz4cash]

Penfed Premium Online Savings up to 1%.

I know members here waiting for them to offer 4% 5yr CDs. That may come soon but I think they are still hurting from those 5% 10yr CDs.

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

NASA FCU just upped their 9 month CD rate to 2.50%, early withdraw penalty 182 days.

This presents a quandary for me. I am starting to think/plan a move after I retire (the 2nd time) next year. I doubt I will be ready before April, but also have a desire to be flexible just in case something (house/property) in the new location comes along. While I am about 50% cash overall, a lot of that is in tax-deferred accounts and therefore not readily available. (When I started moving towards cash late last year/early this year, I did it mostly in tax-deferred accounts as no tax consequence and I could avoid taking large long-term capital gains.)

So while the 2.5% is tempting, and I already have an account there (which makes it easy), I need to think this out before jumping on it...and maybe just stick with "high" yielding savings/checking.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

NASA FCU just upped their 9 month CD rate to 2.50%, early withdraw penalty 182 days.

This presents a quandary for me. I am starting to think/plan a move after I retire (the 2nd time) next year. I doubt I will be ready before April, but also have a desire to be flexible just in case something (house/property) in the new location comes along. While I am about 50% cash overall, a lot of that is in tax-deferred accounts and therefore not readily available. (When I started moving towards cash late last year/early this year, I did it mostly in tax-deferred accounts as no tax consequence and I could avoid taking large long-term capital gains.)

So while the 2.5% is tempting, and I already have an account there (which makes it easy), I need to think this out before jumping on it...and maybe just stick with "high" yielding savings/checking.

I would wait till the end of the month before pulling any triggers.

 

[wrigley]

NASA FCU just upped their 9 month CD rate to 2.50%, early withdraw penalty 182 days.

This presents a quandary for me. I am starting to think/plan a move after I retire (the 2nd time) next year. I doubt I will be ready before April, but also have a desire to be flexible just in case something (house/property) in the new location comes along. While I am about 50% cash overall, a lot of that is in tax-deferred accounts and therefore not readily available. (When I started moving towards cash late last year/early this year, I did it mostly in tax-deferred accounts as no tax consequence and I could avoid taking large long-term capital gains.)

So while the 2.5% is tempting, and I already have an account there (which makes it easy), I need to think this out before jumping on it...and maybe just stick with "high" yielding savings/checking.

Minimum $10,000 with this add on:

"Credit Union reserves the right to limit deposits into this special certificate."

Mike

 

[mrfeh]

NASA FCU just upped their 9 month CD rate to 2.50%, early withdraw penalty 182 days.

This presents a quandary for me. I am starting to think/plan a move after I retire (the 2nd time) next year. I doubt I will be ready before April, but also have a desire to be flexible just in case something (house/property) in the new location comes along. While I am about 50% cash overall, a lot of that is in tax-deferred accounts and therefore not readily available. (When I started moving towards cash late last year/early this year, I did it mostly in tax-deferred accounts as no tax consequence and I could avoid taking large long-term capital gains.)

So while the 2.5% is tempting, and I already have an account there (which makes it easy), I need to think this out before jumping on it...and maybe just stick with "high" yielding savings/checking.

If you decide to made such a short-term investment, the 6 month treasury is at 3%

 

[John Galt III]

Penfed Premium Online Savings up to 1%.

I know members here waiting for them to offer 4% 5yr CDs. That may come soon but I think they are still hurting from those 5% 10yr CDs.

Wow. I must have missed the 10 year 5% CDs. When was that?

 

[captain3d]

Citizens Access

Our Online Savings Annual Percentage Yield (APY) increased from 1.25% to 1.75% on July 16 for all of our customers

 

[jazz4cash]

Wow. I must have missed the 10 year 5% CDs. When was that?

It was in 2011. Back then it was very hard for me to commit to 10 yrs. Today, not so much.

 

[explanade]

Anyone tempted to dip their toes back into the market rather than lock in 5-year CDs?

Or wait until the Fed stop raising rates to see what the rates and the markets are like then?

 

[Trailwalker]

Anyone tempted to dip their toes back into the market rather than lock in 5-year CDs?

Or wait until the Fed stop raising rates to see what the rates and the markets are like then?

My money in the market never left. CD money/cash equivalents get moved around to take advantage of what looks like the best short term rates. I'm not ready to lock into anything yet longer than a year. My short term money gets me to Medicare and off Marketplace income constraints in four years.

 

[jazz4cash]

My money in the market never left.

+1. Just trying to maintain a bucketed ladder strategy going out ~5 yrs for these products.

 

[erkevin]

Anyone tempted to dip their toes back into the market rather than lock in 5-year CDs?

Or wait until the Fed stop raising rates to see what the rates and the markets are like then?

I bought more VTI last week. It's on sale.....why wait for the price to go up?

 

[Silver]

Online saving at Bask Bank just went up to 2.0% APY. I moved our cash over from Discover when Bask was at 1.25% and Discover was still at 0.6%.

Lovin' it.

 

[jim584672]

Pendfed sent an email for a 3 year @ 3.25%. Not that great since brokered CDs are 3.40% for the 3 years.

 

[kongmen]

"Online saving at Bask Bank just went up to 2.0% APY. I moved our cash over from Discover when Bask was at 1.25% and Discover was still at 0.6%".




Hopefully Sycrony will pony up soon.