CD Discussion Thread

I think it is a supply chain consideration. At the Lunar New Year the factories close and everyone goes on vacation . . . . or something like that. It is a national holiday in China, and the holiday lasts for at least a week, if not longer.

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I just bought some six months t-bills with a discount of 99.7067. That works out to an annual rate of .5866% without compounding. as usual, no state tax which saves quite a bit in my home state of TaxiFornia.

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JPMorgan Now Expects Nine Straight Fed Rate Increases Until March 2023

As an old mentor of mine (John Scheuer) used to say back circa 1979, as inflation then was skyrocketing:

“Keep it short, keep it safe”

Today we once again are staring inflation in the eye, and the wisdom of John’s counsel has not waned. And that goes double in the wake of news such as this:

From Barrons: JPMorgan Now Expects Nine Straight Fed Rate Increases

So I’m gonna pass on today’s five year CDs, thank you very much!

You, of course, should do whatever you believe is best for you.

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I think it’s going to take the first actual increase to break the ice, and then we will finally start to see some good promotional CD offers with decent rates.

The problem is that CD desirability is tied to liquid rates, not the Fed rate, and we all know that liquid rates fall like a rock but can really lag when rates are rising. So sitting on cash may prove to be counterproductive, especially when the marginally attractive 12-15 month term CD offers start to appear (there’s a good chance the 12-month term will be maturing before there are better options anyways).

It’s all still crap for the moment, but one of these days we are going to suddenly have an awful lot to think about and consider.

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I’m happy about the thought of rising % interest rates. Those of us that have been around here for years do remember the days.

Of lately I’m just trying to find decent liquid rates
offerings for holding places for maturing $$’s. But do you suppose it’s going to happen like monthly hikes?

Only a couple+ years ago we were scrambling for 3%/4% CD offerings. Oh for the days… :blush:

The Bellco Credit Union “Smart Move” CD is something of a crossover product. It embraces aspects of a liquid money account. It is an NPCD (no penalty CD), but perhaps only up to a point. I’m not clear on the details. Here is a description of the product from the Bellco website:

Smart Move CD

Want greater control and flexibility in your savings? Deposit a minimum of $2,500 and our Smart Move CD will give you the benefits of a traditional CD with great rates and uniquely flexible options, like the ability to bump up, add funds, and more.

  • Start with a minimum of $2,500.
  • Make a one-time “bump-up” to the next interest rate anytime during the term of your CD.
  • Ability to add a one-time additional deposit of $100 or more to your existing account.
  • Flexibility to make one withdrawal during the account term with no penalty—as long as a minimum balance of $2,500 is left in the account.

The APY on the 36 month Smart Move CD is 0.95%. This account is NCUA insured.

Bellco is in Colorado. Anyone may join. I happen to be a member there, but my account is inactive and I do not own a Smart Move CD so have no personal experience with this product.

Link to this Bellco NPCD deal

You will need to scroll down there a little bit.

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It’s a no penalty, bump-up, add-on CD - all the best features in one place. But limited to one time use for each feature.

Might be worth opening (especially if you’re already a member) with $2500, just so you have the option down the road to bump the rate and add funds. But I suspect the bumped rate will always lag the leading CD offers at the time…

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Uh, thanks glitch99. :rofl:

Actually the locus of my uncertainty was elsewhere. It’s not clear (at least not to me) from their written description whether or not there is a limitation on how much of your account you are permitted to withdraw. In addition, the withdrawal mechanism is not detailed. Online? You have to call them? I dunno. And there surely are other aspects of this deal needing elucidation I’m unable to provide.

Generally, whenever I post a deal I’ve not done myself, I try to err on the side of caution. I want anyone interested in the deal to explore for themselves any possible pitfalls or hazards.

Insofar as I’m aware Ken has not posted this deal yet. If he does I’m confident he will illuminate any potential problem areas. Ken oftentimes telephones the financial institution before posting a deal, in order better to explore it. I don’t do that. So when a CD deal is posted here it’s always on the basis of caveat emptor.

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Today I received an email advertisement from an old account. USAlliance Financial. It’s been closed for a few years. I searched back for old ID & Password. Found and have $5. in the savings.

Anyway new offering, 18 month CD 1.50%.

Sounds pretty decent and I have $$ looking for a home. I’m not able to post it. (older/not trained). If interested you can look it up. :blush:

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just reposting this reminder. We are in one of the times when treasury bills yield more than CDs especially considering they are state tax free.

some examples:

Six month 0.71%

One year 1.13%

https://home.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/TextView?type=daily_treasury_bill_rates&field_tdr_date_value_month=202202

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As OP I appreciate all participants on this thread, whether you only post infrequently and even if you never post at all. And I especially do not want to come off as “tin foil hat” guy. But I’m gonna risk this post regardless:

In light of current events I urge you all, if you subscribe to e-statements, to be sure to print out the statements for your accounts, and for your larger accounts in particular. Sure. Sure. I realize everyone is doing this anyway, religiously, every month. And that is fine.

But on chance you might have been putting things off and relying instead on the internet . . . . well . . . . this is not a good time to be following that course. So get those printers humming if need be. And good luck.

Hopefully this is all just a bunch of baloney. But one never knows. :wink:

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Are you referring to some kind of cyberattack that would expunge your online account?

These are not ordinary times. There is no way for me to know what might transpire. It is better to be safe than sorry. This means having paper account records wherever possible, at least until things settle down.

And of course you should have them anyway, regardless anything else. But especially now.

Damm it!! Annoying aspects are looming again.

Probably shouldn’t admit that I simply depend upon the computer to keep my records safe. I’m going to pay more attention to the accounts.

After all it’s just another chore…. :frowning:

I apologize for any possible confusion my earlier post might have created. Sure, it is possible to store “paper” records in electronic form on your home computer. You would print them out if ever forced to do so by unanticipated circumstances.

I was earlier referring to reliance on the internet to obtain your account statements and records as being inadvisable, a circumstance where you would have no backup whatsoever at home.

I do not store my bank statements on my home computer. But you certainly could, once those items already have safely been downloaded. For me it makes more sense just to print everything out. But that’s just me.

Anyway, it is the internet and the accessing of your account records thereby that is the concern, not your home computer.

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I don’t do any of this. I don’t even look at my statements.

Post was deleted by the author.

The insecurity is in the transmission. Your email account does not need to be hacked in order for someone to view your emails without your knowledge. A rogue employee at your ISP, the bank’s own email server (if hacked), or rogue IT employee (who may not have access to the actual accounts) could see your emails without actually hacking you. Making you download statements over HTTPS prevents this. Encrypted email could too, but it’s much more cumbersome to implement and use.

2FA that uses something other than email helps with the other problem so that hacking your email isn’t enough to get into your account.

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The big banks are better equipped to handle this. The small ones that pay interest and we use… aren’t that interesting as targets.

Personally, however, I download every statement every month or two. It’s a bit of a hassle with so many accounts, but better safe than sorry (my statements are date-aligned and I have reminders). Bank errors are almost non-existent, but if I ever get so lucky I want to be sure it’s not in their favor.

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Are the these the current (and potential) events you’re talking about?

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