Certificats of Deposit

[NoTrespassing]

My wife and I have a significant portion of our savings in 2 checking accounts earning almost no interest. We went to our bank yesterday to discuss CDs. We were told they have 2 "special " rate CDs right now, a 7 month and 11 month for a little over 5% APR. The problem I see with those CDs is that when they mature, if you are not proactive and open another "special " rate CD, they revert back to their "regular" rate of .05% and the you are trapped in it for a period of time, I think one year. I asked if they could automatically be transferred back into our checking accounts and was told it's impossible. Is this typical banking policy?

 

[LittleBill21]

no, cd's can be cancelled when matured and the funds deposited, i have done this over the years, you can also just get a HYSA, I currently have one over 5%, but a typical good online account is over 4%, if you don't want to do the cd thing. you can tell them i think up to 10 days before maturity you want to not roll over. and generally you only lose a month or 3 months of interest if pulled early, you can always pull them.

 

[NoTrespassing]

I'm surprised their "regular " rate is .05% when their "special " rate is actually over 5%. Seems underhanded to me.

 

[NoTrespassing]

I'm leaning towards an online money market at over 5%.

 

[LittleBill21]

I'm surprised their "regular " rate is .05% when their "special " rate is actually over 5%. Seems underhanded to me.

its typical, I have seen it before.

 

[LittleBill21]

I'm leaning towards an online money market at over 5%.

make sure you use a hub bank like ally, I do the online stuff, and some of the banks have some strict rules, and very limited capability, i just use them as storage vaults. CFG/VIO/Bask are all decent with little restriction, just watch the ach transfer limits if you don't use a hub bank like Ally.

 

[2manyrocks]

Some banks auto renew into a crappy rate because they want to hold onto your money and pay you the least for it.

Have you considering buying treasury direct because I think you might be able to get a better rate and not have to deal with the bank auto renewal thing.

 

[NoTrespassing]

make sure you use a hub bank like ally, I do the online stuff, and some of the banks have some strict rules, and very limited capability, i just use them as storage vaults. CFG/VIO/Bask are all decent with little restriction, just watch the ach transfer limits if you don't use a hub bank like Ally.

We just need a place to save. We have a pretty good monthly surplus after 401k deposits and it keeps piling up in non interest checking accounts. Someday we might spend it on a major building project but we'd have plenty of time to get it out. We should probably sit down with a financial advisor but I hate paying for things I think I can figure out myself.

 

[LittleBill21]

We just need a place to save. We have a pretty good monthly surplus after 401k deposits and it keeps piling up in non interest checking accounts. Someday we might spend it on a major building project but we'd have plenty of time to get it out. We should probably sit down with a financial advisor but I hate paying for things I think I can figure out myself.

well read the limitations closely if you never did online, the best current saving's is popular direct, at 5.4%, but they only allow one ach account linked, no features, and you can only do transfers on their side of the world, and 100+ fee to close if closed in under 6 months, but like you its just a storage vault, and I use Ally for all my bill pay and transfers

 

[Hay Dude]

I'm leaning towards an online money market at over 5%.

usually those require a decent sum to be maintained. I have one, but you need to maintain north of 20-25K.

 

[Hay Dude]

We just need a place to save. We have a pretty good monthly surplus after 401k deposits and it keeps piling up in non interest checking accounts. Someday we might spend it on a major building project but we'd have plenty of time to get it out. We should probably sit down with a financial advisor but I hate paying for things I think I can figure out myself.

I think with minmal attention, those CD’s should work well for you. I bet the minimums are lower than MM account minimums. Just set an alarm on your smart phone or mark down on calendar the maturity dates and off you go.

 

[WM75Guy]

We use Preferred Deposits with Merrill Lynch for our money market and savings needs. It takes $100K to open the account but you can draw down below that after opening. Minimum deposit after opening is $1K. Current interest rate is 5.02%, tied to the Fed rate. No limit on transactions, no time limits, and no penalties on withdrawals. I can transfer the money between my BOA and Merrill cash accounts online, then my Merrill Financial Advisor has to make the deposits or withdrawals into Preferred Deposits. Deposits are made or money is available from a withdrawal to transfer back to my BOA checking account within 24 hours after I notify him.

 

[gstrom99]

I just moved some "extra" $ from my savings account to a CD at my local bank last week. 12 month, at 5.4% APR. I didn't read all the fine print , but I'm sure I need to pay attention at/near maturity time to move it or re-do another CD. Normal banking terms.

 

[NoTrespassing]

I think with minmal attention, those CD’s should work well for you. I bet the minimums are lower than MM account minimums. Just set an alarm on your smart phone or mark down on calendar the maturity dates and off you go.

Not worried about minimums, we have about 100k too much in checking. I know, it's a good problem to have but it's still a problem. Wife finally started making money and we aren't spending it.

 

[CH4Ohio]

We just need a place to save. We have a pretty good monthly surplus after 401k deposits and it keeps piling up in non interest checking accounts. Someday we might spend it on a major building project but we'd have plenty of time to get it out. We should probably sit down with a financial advisor but I hate paying for things I think I can figure out myself.

Who needs an expensive financial planner when you have free TBN advice???

 

[gstrom99]

Who needs an expensive financial planner when you have free TBN advice???

Free advice is usually worth exactly what it costs...

 

[CH4Ohio]

Free advice is usually worth exactly what it costs...

EXACTLY!!!!

 

[grsthegreat]

Oh brother, what a crappy bank. I have 9 short term cds running right now at 4 different credit unions. Every one of them alert me prior to maturity. That, and i keep an alert on each one on phone calendar. They offer either to roll it into a new cd or transfer it to main account after maturity. I found that credit unions offer better rates than banks, and no way will i trust an online bank.

i do have trust issues. I still remember back in early 1990’s when i first moved back to southern calif and took a construction job. my local bank was being torn down and rebuilt and had set up a large trailer as a temporary bank during construction. I used to take my weekly checks and cash them at trailer (did not have acct, but checks were drawn on that branch). After a few months a cashier asked me if id ever consider opening* an account.

i told her, i never going to put my money in a bank on wheels.

 

[NoTrespassing]

I'm a diehard procrastinator and freely admit it. That's why CDs bother me, especially when they roll over into a .05% CD if I don't pay attention to them. Had a savings account and it kept going dormant for lack of attention

 

[ponytug]

I'm a diehard procrastinator and freely admit it. That's why CDs bother me, especially when they roll over into a .05% CD if I don't pay attention to them. Had a savings account and it kept going dormant for lack of attention

You might look into one of the major financial services companies like Vanguard, Fidelity, Merrill, etc. all of whom offer laddered CDs with varying maturities and rollover. The added benefit is that as your savings accumulate, it becomes easy to have CDs at multiple banks through the financial services company that makes each CD eligible for FDIC insurance, though there are wrinkles.

I think that it is worth doing something. With inflation at 4-7% this year, your base account is losing over a 20th (5%) each year. With an insured CD, you would keep that loss down, with little risk. It is probably the easiest $5,000+ you could make this year.

All the best,

Peter