I thought about the Freedom CU 3yr 3+% deal but decided against it when it turned out to not be an add-on. I still have my 1st United CU 3yr 3% add-on CD that matures 10/20. So if nothing comes along great in March I will keep on adding to this 3% deal.
Acknowledged and understood. You are fortunate to have that 1st United CU deal, pattyb53. Most of us out here did, and do, not qualify for membership in 1st United.
Update
It now appears my demise post, several posts up, was in error. New postings on Kenâs website are saying the Freedom CU three year 3.04%APY deal will be good until close of business tomorrow (Friday).
From the start you could get this deal done in one day if you have FAX capability and are willing to wire funds. Looks as if tomorrow is your last such one day opportunity.
shinobi, Iâm happy to confirm that I got the Consumerâs CU to transfer my matured CD into the Savings Acct today.
As usual it still took quite a time to talk to an agent. I had a previous agent who gave me her personal phone #, but she did not answer the phone. I left her a message, but ended up going to the listed # instead. I had a call back, so you know that took time.
I wanted those funds in the Savings today, so I could ACH today & move money to Alliant. Anyway guess I wonât be doing business with CCU again. But, I did leave $5 in savings, just in case they have another good offer. By the way they had already transferred my funds into another CD, .91% for another year. lol
I am happy everything worked out for you. This is good.
I also plan to avoid CCU in the future. I donât hate 'em or anything of that sort. But it is just very, very difficult to do business there. They are in Illinois and probably doing the best they can beneath the very difficult circumstances which exist in Illinois today.
NWFCU (Northwest) offering 2.89% APY for five years to Heritage Club members.
Iâm not in. Rate does not compare with Freedom at three for three (now dead) or with Sharonview 4% for just over five years. I am in on both of those.
CD Interest rates are definitely going up in anticipation of the March Fed meeting. This is good stuff!
shinobi, I looked at Sharonview 4% site. Looks very interesting, but I am not ready for a 5 yr term. I may wish I had taken advantage of this in the future. Actually I would have to take funds out of AgFed 2.5% no penalty CD to fund & open this acct.
Hopefully we will see what March holds out for those of us interested in good CD options. (by the way, where do you find all these great deals?)
They are found here and there. On Kenâs site you have to look beyond the front page of his blog. Look into his forum.
Iâm not jumping on the currently increasing number of âthree for fiveâ deals. He has another one this morning. I will pass. But three for three was fine. And four for five plus seems quite reasonable to me. Still, I did not bet the farm. Long way from that. Just put a bit in, added to core holdings at 4%. Can live with that.
Most financial institutions are struggling today to reach 3%. It may be a while before they all come 'round to 4%, if they ever do at all. Bird in the hand . . . . 
shinobi, I decided to go for the Sharonview FCU 5yr 4%.
As usual the lines are busy over at the site. Got the application in & Faxed DL & Utility bill. I also had to go for the âHobby Farmers of Americaâ $20 to complete the process. I donât know why I always end up on a Friday pm when business closes & have to wait until Monday to complete & get a membership #.
The rep told me that there is a possibility that this deal may not last past middle of next week. She also said that they would make a note of my desire to get the CD. So I should be ok. (here we go again)
Got an email today about Penfed raising their certificate rates. 1 year @ 2.07% APR seems pretty good. Any opinions on Penfed CDs?
18 months @ 2.22% APR as well.
If 50k or less than the Navy Fed 2.25% 15 month might be a better choice for either scenario. I expect 1 year cdâs to go up over next 6-9 months continually so if you are not in a rush put it in one of the higher rate savings accounts (1.70-1.80%) and bide your time for a really sweet deal to come along. My no penalty CDâs are always nice because you can break them when you want to and cash into a great deal but since they are earning 1.75% and 1.85% not worth doing anything yet.
Apparently CIT Bankâs no penalty CD is now paying 1.85%âŚmight be a great alternative and Iâm now thinking money I had going to dollarsavingsdirect should go to CIT Bank.
1 Like
Thank you. I wish I could join NF!
1 Like
Are you aware they reduced their requirements? Pretty much all you need is an âimmediateâ family member that has ever been in the serviceâŚthey donât have to have retired from itâŚand I wasnât really required to send them anything validating the service history although I had my dadâs paperwork.
Thank you for mentioning that. I had forgotten but I think I did read that on FWF a while back. I should probably sign up since I donât mind the inquiry right now.
Whatâs everyoneâs take on that 64 month 4% CD?
I can tell you Iâm regretting having locked in a long term CD at 3% so Iâd pass on any CDâs with that length given several rate increases are still expected down the road.
3 Likes
Iâm in but not in a huge way. A bird in the hand . . . .
I have never been able to predict the direction of interest rates. 4% is decent. But it is not high enough for me to make a gargantuan commitment. So you take a small bite and hope for better deals going forward.
That said, financial institutions generally are gonna have to just get to 3% before too many others will opt for 4%.
1 Like
Noteworthy that the Sharonview 4% deal continues, at this very hour, to be featured front-and-center on their web page.
Now if it were going away later today, today being a Friday of course and a natural day to discontinue the deal, so if it were going belly up later today I would expect possibly by now, Friday morning, any notice to have been removed from their website. Could be wrong, obviously. Could be overthinking. But this is what happened at Freedom. They sort of wound things down near to the end.
The alternative is that this 4% deal might have legs and be going to continue into next week. Right now I personally would put those odds at better than 50-50. But of course itâs a crap shoot.
Ya gotta remember Andrews, their 3% deal when 3% was unheard of back at that time. The Andrews deal, contrary to what many believed, was NOT the beginning of a trend. It took a year, and the election of Trump, for other financial institutions finally to come around to Andrewsâ 3% way of thinking. And many have not even yet today! So I would ask:
How long before other financial institutions are offering 4% for (roughly) five years? Will others jump in on the Sharonview bandwagon? Or will it be like with Andrews where we savers had to wait forever for another bite at the higher-rate apple?
I dunno, obviously. But Iâm thinkinâ about it.
Things are moving fast. I completed the above post only to be shocked immediately thereafter by the employment report news:
Employment report for February
Of course this could be merely a blip, though prior months were also revised upwards. But this is âmore like itâ. These are the kinds of employment numbers which can result in significantly improved American economic vitality and HIGHER interest rates.
I had been expecting this sort of thing once the spring season got underway. Has spring come early? I dunno, but clearly todayâs news mitigates in favor of taking a âwait and seeâ posture going forward where interest rates are concerned. The economy is commencing to hum. Interest rate normalization for us savers, after eight years in the desert, might lie not too far ahead.
OK, back to Sharonview:
Have the people running Sharonview outfoxed us savers? Does their prescience exceed ours? After all, 4% looks darn good compared with 3%, but not great going up against 5% or 6%. Have the Sharonview overlords managed to borrow our money on the cheap?
Not gonna get out over my skis on that one. It remains too early to say, IMO. However, todayâs surprising employment report news does give pause in terms of extending at Sharonview. Such reports as todayâs, if ongoing, will almost surely presage higher interest rates and higher CD rates as well.
Sharonview 4% CD is a good deal.
Iâm certainly hoping it last into next week. If only to help with problems I have run into getting my funds into their office in Charlotte NC. I, 2-day Priority mailed my check to open the CD Monday 3/5. As of right now it is still in transit.
Not only is this a problem but, I added Sharonview CU to Alliant CU in order to later ACH transfer. Now, they have charged $32 to my Savings acct for not having funds. Originally when I opened the application they were to ACH transfer $5 to the account, which hasnât happened.
If they ever receive my check for the CD, I will talk to my agent about this problem with the $32 & the original $5.
If this wasnât such a great offer, I might just cancel, & wait for something else to come along.