Trust me, the one that will give you the best chance is getting stuck in the snow for the first time. It is the first time my wife heard me cussing up a storm.
ETA: and had your first beef on weck.
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Yeah. Good post. And I’m worried the same thing will happen at Empower before I’m able to get money in. Sure hope they will hold deal until month’s end. But Hanscom didn’t.
Financial institutions are tripping all over themselves in their race to lower our CD rates . . . and other interest rates, too.
They’re just pricing in the nearly guaranteed quarter point rate cut due at end of July. Unless they need to boost their deposits badly, no need to offer the same CD rates knowing where the rates are sure to go very soon.
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Christian Community Credit Union
4% 18 months $10,000 max
Details on CD here:
DoC talks about it here:
This will not be everyone’s cup of tea… hope it helps some.
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I did get into Hanscom, “just by the skin of my teeth”. I noticed today that Kiplinger is naming Hanscom FCU one of the best. We will see.
Funny thing they opened my account right away showing the CD funds deposited. But they never took the money out of my Alliant account. Well 2 weeks passed, so I moved the funds from checking to savings. The very day I moved the funds they tried to collect from checking & closed my acct. I quickly called & luckily I got a rep that could see my problem. She had me redo the whole operation & reopened the CD with the original date. Remedy, never take anything for granted!! 
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I was, of course, persona non grata at Hanscom. They wanted nothing whatsoever to do with me. Would not even call me back.
However, sometimes things work out for the better. Today I had a CD mature locally. I just telephoned Empower. They think their 2.9% 18 month CD deal likely will hold until Monday . . . at least. I would go in today and open it, but temperatures are approaching 100 degrees, it is a long trip, and the AC in my car is kaput. Monday will be a nice, cool day, so plan is to open my new CD then. Looking, with the Christmas giveback bonus, at an APY between say 3.045% and 3.33%. I can definitely live with those numbers, or anything in between, on an 18 month CD.
Off Topic. Sorry. I will be brief.
Important for you to learn ASAP, pattyb53, about a great feature of our Alliant accounts. Go into your Alliant account. Look at the list on the right and click on “Courtesy Pay & Overdraft”. If you need help please post your question on the Alliant thread. It is off topic here. Good luck.
After re-reading your glowing report on Empower FCU, I deciding to see if I could qualify for membership. I filled out the online app late yesterday. Today I e-mailed my DL & copy of payment to one of their companies. They say my app is pending at this point.
Even if I qualify it may be to late for the 18-mo 2.90% CD. I see it is still on their rate page.
I telephoned them on this matter, pattyb53. As you would expect there were no guarantees or promises. None. However, the rep said she thought the 2.90% APY rate most likely would endure until month’s end.
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Just a brief mention for all of you groupies out there:
Ken is featuring Hanscom front and center this morning.
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Did anyone get that Dort FCU 4% CD deal? Surely do wish I qualified for that lollipop!
But I do not, so back to reality:
Managed to snag an Empower 18 month CD. Am pretty happy. So how much longer will the gravy train persist at Empower? I dunno, but if it lasts until Thursday I’m likely to go back for seconds. Thing is, with the 18 month CD now secured, that 24 month Empower CD is beckoning. Which way to go? Which way to go?
Q: Now that an 18 is in your pocket, have you any better insight as to how much longer this Empower deal will last? Anything at all?
I spoke with a different rep earlier today. She said business on the CDs has been brisk, but not overwhelming. My gut says I have a chance provided I act before Friday. But, as always, such as this is quite unknowable. Deal could end today, Friday, end of month a week from Wednesday, or it could persist into August.
The nominal rates on the Empower certificates are respectable, but it is only after you add on the Christmas giveback that they really stand out. And of course the credit union cannot advertise that giveback number because it is not guaranteed. It’s the perfect deal for anyone who enjoys taking a bit of a chance.
It’s funny. I have not had a CD at Empower for a couple of years; was only keeping my membership going “just in case”. Anyway, back earlier when I had a CD there the rate was just OK, and there were higher alternatives. But I can remember at Christmas time they sent me this pile of money and I was like: What the heck!!
So I did the math back then and it turned out Empower was paying me a better rate of interest overall than the other certificates I owned which had a higher nominal APY.
You do not forget stuff like that.
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No on the Dort deal, but like you I tried. I haven’t heard anything yet on my Empower membership. I was to busy today to call, but tomorrow I will start “bugging them”.
What dort deal? I don’t see anything on depositaccounts regarding it.
You probably do not qualify either, famewolf. Sadly
Go to Ken’s website. At the upper right, where it says Search by topic or Institution name type in Dort. Thereafter, all shall be revealed.
You got pluck, pattyb53. Hats off to you. I only noticed the high rate. I do not have sufficient moxie remaining actually, like you, to have tried for the deal. When younger I did not give up so easily.
I gave this one a try also, but like Hanscom did to you, they turned me down.
So onward & upward! As I told the gal at Empower today, your lose of $100K @2.90%. Not so sweet!!
I told her that a friend of mine said it would be worth it with your bonus’ later on. She asked, if you were a relative?? 
I don’t know if you got in on the United Bank (MA) 3.15% add-on CD. Mine matures 6/15/20. But I could take my liquid funds out of Grow & add-on. But for now I’m going to stay where I am. At the end of August I have USAlliance FCU CD that matures. I’ll be glad to get rid of that one, 2%…
Tough one, pattyb53. Hope you have a better outcome on the next deal. What the heck:
I hope there is a next deal! 
This reminds me that we need to start a SEG for FD and associate it with all the real juicy CU’s. 
Who’s with me??
Empower rep telling me, if they change at all, interest rates generally change on Saturdays. Tempted to try for Friday coups; go in with a check on Friday, open CD with a paper check, collect three days of double interest on amount deposited. Course I also could lose the deal entirely with this approach, if rate changes sooner than Saturday. Monitoring situation closely.
Going with NFCU five year 3.50% APY CD special, provided rate lasts until Friday. It should. ACHing funds in. Smaller $$ commitment than at Empower because of five year term. Still a good core holding for long term.
Have concern regarding what sort of reaction next week’s widely anticipated rate cut will trigger in the CD world, should it actually materialize.
ETA
There is no drama. The above is wrong. Just discovered Empower is guaranteeing the rate until end of business tomorrow (Friday). Three days of double interest. What a happy outcome. 
Friday evening
Posting once again regarding Empower FCU. This because APYs there for 18 month through 30 month CDs continue to look very good. They change rates on Saturdays. But the interest rates which commence tomorrow are already up and, unlike at too many other financial institutions, they were not cut.
So this means anyone has a full week to act.
I opened my second Empower CD today, a two year at 2.95% plus the Christmas giveback. Took advantage of opportunity to inquire, once again, about membership, from two different reps in person. The answer I received was same as the one I had been given on the telephone before I posted earlier, up thread, about this. In essence anyone can become an Empower member. No office visit is required. You must first, of course, join a qualifying organization (see my post up thread). They emphasized that the application can be completed online.
The Empower interest rates for longer CDs, e.g. the five year, are not impressive. But for anyone wanting to diversify into something shorter, this is a really first class opportunity.
shinobi, this certainly didn’t work for me!! I even joined an organization & paid $25 for the membership. They came back & said I had to be employed by that organization. Made me very angry…
So what did I do wrong?
Your suggestion is to “speak to a representative” and yet the whole point is one representative tells shinobi one thing while another tells pattyb53 something different. The one thing we can EXPECT is consistency.
As for @pattyb53, have you tried talking to a second representative and did you use the same organization that shinobi recommended in his original comments?