A leading CD came off the market today, but you still have three nationwide options to earn more than 6%—and as much as 6.50% APY.
Although CD shoppers lost a 6.00% APY offer on a 13-month term, the nation-leading rate of 6.50% is still available from Financial Partners Credit Union for an 8-month term with a maximum deposit of $5,000. For a bigger deposit, you might like Bayer Heritage Federal Credit Union’s runner-up rate of 6.18% APY on a 1-year duration, or Minnequa Works Credit Union’s 6-month CD paying 6.14% APY.
Key Takeaways
- Three options in our daily ranking of the best nationwide CDs are paying above 6.00%—with one offer as high as 6.50% APY.
- One of the previous leaders—an offer of 6.00% on a 13-month term—disappeared today.
- A total of 18 nationwide CDs in our ranking offer a rate of at least 5.75% APY.
- You can earn 5.00% even in the longest term of 5 years.
- As expected, the Fed announced a rate hold last week but left the door open to a possible future increase.
Below you’ll find featured rates available from our partners, followed by details from our complete ranking of the best CDs available nationwide.
Looking to lock in a great rate for a longer term? The top 2-year CD is paying 5.60% APY. If that’s still not long enough, you can secure 5.37% APY for 30 months down the road, or 5.25% APY for 36 or 40 months. All three of those can be found in our daily ranking of the best 3-year CDs.
If you have the option to make a jumbo deposit of at least $100,000, you can boost your 2-year rate to 5.68% APY or your 30-month rate to 5.52% APY.
Note
When asked where they would put an unexpected $10,000 windfall, almost 1 in 5 recently surveyed Investopedia readers said they would choose a CD. Selected by 18% of readers, CDs were the most popular response, outpacing stocks, money market funds, and index funds.
Note that jumbo CDs don’t always pay a higher return than standard certificates. Sometimes you can do just as well—or better—with a standard CD. That’s currently the case in six of the eight terms above, so it’s smart to shop both certificate types before making a final decision.
How High Will CD Rates Go This Year?
The Federal Reserve has been aggressively combating decades-high inflation since March of last year, raising the federal funds rate with fast and furious hikes in 2022 and then more moderate increases in 2023. This has created historically favorable conditions for CD shoppers, as well as for anyone holding cash in a high-yield savings or money market account.
The Fed opted to hold rates steady last Wednesday, its second such move in a row. That maintains the central bank’s benchmark rate at its highest level since 2001. But in his post-announcement press conference, Fed Chair Jerome Powell made it clear that holding rates in place today does not necessarily mean the committee is finished with increases.
“Inflation has moderated since the middle of last year and readings over the summer were quite favorable. But a few months of good data are only the beginning of what it will take to build confidence that inflation is moving down sustainably toward our goal,” Powell said.
The Fed chair also reiterated what he has indicated in many past press conferences about the current announcement only representing a decision for today. “We haven’t made any decisions about future meetings,” Powell said. “We’re going meeting by meeting.”
In other words, the Fed is leaving the possibility of another rate hike on the table in case inflation does not come down far enough or the committee doesn’t feel confident that inflation will reliably stay near its target level. The Fed will make its next rate announcement on Dec. 13.
As we always caution, trying to predict Fed rate moves is an unreliable exercise. For now, it seems CD rates will roughly stabilize at their elevated levels. But if it appears likely that the Fed will make another rate increase in December or January, we could still see CD rates inch a bit higher.
Note that the “top rates” quoted here are the highest nationally available rates Investopedia has identified in its daily rate research on hundreds of banks and credit unions. This is much different than the national average, which includes all banks offering a CD with that term, including many large banks that pay a pittance in interest. Thus, the national averages are always quite low, while the top rates you can unearth by shopping around are often five, 10, or even 15 times higher.
Rate Collection Methodology Disclosure
Every business day, Investopedia tracks the rate data of more than 200 banks and credit unions that offer CDs to customers nationwide and determines daily rankings of the top-paying certificates in every major term. To qualify for our lists, the institution must be federally insured (FDIC for banks, NCUA for credit unions), and the CD’s minimum initial deposit must not exceed $25,000.
Banks must be available in at least 40 states. And while some credit unions require you to donate to a specific charity or association to become a member if you don’t meet other eligibility criteria (e.g., you don’t live in a certain area or work in a certain kind of job), we exclude credit unions whose donation requirement is $40 or more. For more about how we choose the best rates, read our full methodology.
Investopedia / Alice Morgan
