You may find that doing it through the agfed signup process gets you the lower amount. I seem to recall the “regular cost” to join the zoo association was higher than when I applied through the agfed signup.
It never occurred to me they would make joining a part of the application process. You are entirely correct:
Need another way to joint? Members of The Friends of the National Arboretum and the Friends of the National zoo are eligible for an AgFed membership. We’ve made it easy to join either of these associations, making you eligible to join. (The non-refundable due to join either of the associations and thus become an Agfed member doesn’t guarantee you will be approved for any requested account, loan, or service.)
The Friends of the National Arboretum
$20.00 (one time, non-refundable dues)
Friends of the National Arboretum (FONA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to help preserve and maintain the National Arboretum. Membership dues for FONA are used to provide financial and volunteer support for many of the Arboretum’s internship programs, maintenance of the gardens and collections, The Washington Youth Garden and many other projects.
The Friends of the National Zoo
$20.00 (one time, non-refundable dues)
Friends of the National Zoo (FONZ)is a nonprofit corporation that was established in 1958 and has been providing support to the National Zoo ever since. Your contribution will help support the Zoo’s education and research programs.
AgFed does not profit from any of the money we collect from you today. 100% of your due goes directly to the unaffiliated associations that you select above. You will also be asked to make a $5 deposit into your savings account to establish your membership. That deposit is yours to withdraw should you decide to cancel your AgFed membership.
Framewolf how easy was it to close no penalty CD. Could you do it online or had to call. Was money deposited from cd you closed to your liquid account immediately. Any loss of interest during transaction period?
There was no delay that I recall other than the fact I wanted to go from Bank A to Bank C when my “external fund” was Bank B. I ended up doing a wire to Ally ($20) and then ACH’ing to the other bank (because Bank D charged for incoming wires and Ally did not).
I was able to wire the money from agfed to ally and then transfer a large chunk of it (subject to Ally’s ACH limits) to Northern Bank same day. The remainder being ACH’d the next day.
In this case it’s about 6 on one hand and 1/2 dozen on the other…I could have wired directly for an extra $15…and I would have earned around $5 more in interest leaving me $10 behind.
I opened MainStreet Bank 15mo CD @2.80% on 6/27/18. The online application was simple & quick.
I immediately rec the approved CD with account # and the maturity date etc. Today 6/29 I rec an e-mail with further instructions. Sign & return copy of CD & also a copy of Drivers L.
I called to find out why I cannot log into account. Was told I must wait until they receive the signature card & copy of DL.
This CD rate is not as good as I have been waiting for but the short term 15 mo is acceptable for now.
1/3/18, I am now able to log into my Mainstreet Bank account.
Just wondering if folks believe that anything better than 2.80% 15mo CD is in the wind. My Navy CD that matures this next week was only paying 2.50% when I purchased a couple years ago.
So what does the future hold for new CD’s??
Actually that should have read 7/3/18 I can log into acct.
I assume everyone saw this from depositaccounts.com?
Andrews Federal Credit Union (easy membership) has added a limited-time 9-month Certificate Special (2.75% APY). $1k min/$250k max deposit. Limit of one per member.
Looks good to me although I’m not in a position to take advantage of it right now.
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It is anybody’s guess. And there are a great many guesses out there now.
Mine is continued, very slow, increase in intermediate term rates. Base this on current employment news (shortage of workers).
So much more will be known in exactly four months. I would give anything to know today the outcome of the elections. Should Trump become hamstrung (if not outright impeached) by a Democrat Congress, I’m betting on level or even lower rates going forward from that outcome. If, instead, the American electorate chooses candidates who are (on the whole) tolerant of Trump, I would expect interest rates to continue upward.
The level of polarization today in America is so off the charts I really have no idea what is going to happen this November. Strategy is to keep aside as much dry powder as I can until then. If Trump is squished I will invest heavily in longer CDs as quickly as possible after November sixth. If candidates tolerant of Trump retain control I will be in no hurry to commit my funds following the election.
I have believed all along that CDs on the shorter side, but maturing out beyond the election, are traps. I see nothing but risk in, for example, a nine month CD or a one year CD, should Trump candidates come out losers in November. You could easily be left holding the bag in a less favorable interest rate environment. I want dry powder and I want it available on November seventh. Also, heck:
I can today get 2.4% at AgFed on liquid funds. Why should I reach out for another (less than) 1% with a CD that forces me into 2019? That “don’t make any sense” to me or for me. I guess it makes plenty of sense to the financial institutions since those are the kinds of CDs they are pushing hard right now.
ETA
Crazy. Hey, I just realized the June employment report will be released in the next twenty minutes!! Anybody looking to know where things are headed should keep a weather eye!!
2.75% for 9 months is alot more tempting. (Andrews)
I have kept some old accounts opened with a minimum amount of money. Always in hopes that at a later date an offer would come along & I would not have to reopen the account.
So today I see Andrews FCU offer of a 9-Month CD 2.75%. Well I have an old Andrews FCU with a $5 balance. I also just opened MainStreet Bank 15-Month 2.80% CD this past week. Here are two short term CD’s that sound pretty good.
Big dilemma coming up this next because I have a large Navy CU CD that will mature. Where will I place these new funds. Liquid Savings rates are pretty good also, averaging 2%+. Folks think rates are going up in 3-4 months. 
I’m not sure exactly what’s going on at Navy Federal but I had accumulated a couple hundred dollars in interest from their 15 month 2.25% addon cd in my savings. I attempted to ach that to my LINKED ally account. I emphasize linked because I used ACH to send money to NF from ally and to link the account on ally NF would have had to receive the two micro transactions used to validate the connection.
I was sent a “returned item” notice from NF. Upon inquiring I was told the federal reserve stated savings account were not allowed to do ACH transactions and if I wanted to do them I would need to open a checking account.
Now first the federal reserve caps the # of ach transactions a savings account can do per month without penalty to 6 but it certainly does NOT state savings accounts can’t do ACH. I also don’t want to open another account simply to get the couple hundred in savings. Not sure what their issue is but I suppose if they won’t give me my money electronically I will tell them to close the savings account and send me a check. That will just leave the CD which will mature next March. At that point I think I’ll close my account because this whole mess doesn’t sound right and I don’t deal with banks that make it difficult for me to get MY money back.
famewolf, It’s true that you need a Checking account with Navy in order to ACH transfer funds. I learned that lesson a long time ago. If you do business with Navy (ACH) just go ahead and open a checking account & do the small deposits. Then when you wish to move funds, the task is simple.
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As patty said, NFCU has had this policy forever. They do not allow ACH to outside institutions from savings accounts. I like this because I think it’s a good safety feature.
You can open a checking account free with $0 and keep a zero balance with no fee.
Navy Federal is the largest credit union in the world so a lot of people have learned to work with this.
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Thanks guys for the followup on NFCU. It just seemed very arbitrary since they were letting me transfer $10 a month INTO the savings from an external acct via ach which then got put into the cd since it had an addon feature with a minimum amount due. At least I find out it’s consistent. Also glad to hear it has no fee’s or minimum balance because I thought they might be trying to pull a fast one there.
OK, so here is a good example of what I was writing about up thread. Ken just posted this new “high rate” deal for a one year CD, available nationwide:
Who would want this deal? Not me.
So there you have a one year CD deal at 2.55%. But those of us with NBD accounts can realize 2.26% and safeguard coveted dry powder at the same time . . . . like eating your cake and having it, too.
The tiny pickup in income is insufficient, in my view, to induce surrender of dry powder which could prove VERY important this fall. You want my dry powder? Well you need to pay me at least 1% over the interest rate I’m already being paid!
IFCU (open to all via NMWF) offering a five year jumbo yielding 3.39% APY.
I like the idea of this CU. Wish I were a member . . . might throw a few bucks their way if I were.
shinobi, I think I will take your advice & use Northern Bank Savings 2.26%. There are so many short term CD’s coming up like 15Mo 2.80%. For the difference here, maybe best to just go with NB savings.
You mentioned earlier to wait 4 months & see. Stock market is rising today, maybe something good in the near future. Anyway in a couple days I will have a CD that matures & I will just keep it liquid.
Understood. It’s a quandary. If nothing happens in November to derail the present upward tilt in rates, you’re better off with the higher-yielding short CDs.
But if things go off the rails in November, you are better off having dry powder sitting in AgFed and NBD. Course you can always hedge your bets by going 50-50, 50% liquid and 50% in short CDs.
On the CD side, I would comment there has been nothing decent since Sharonview!! Nothing!! And even Sharonview was only great by comparison. Sad.
BTW, on the liquid side new opportunities appear to be drying up. Ken is featuring new deals worse than our NBD rate at 2.26%, and way worse than AgFed. I wish I had put more into AgFed (technically a CD, after all). And I hope new opportunities surface. S’not happening so far.
Yes, I still have a nice AgFed fund that is paying 2.50%. I’ll keep this one & hopefully one day AgFed will have another good offer.
I also like the idea of a 50-50 deal with those waiting funds I have coming along. But new deals are not good enough % rate to make me shout. So what to do?? Best CD’s I see 9mo 2.75% or 15mo 2.80%. (No 3%'r)