CD Discussion Thread

VUSXX yielding at 4.21%.
If interest gets cut next month, the rate for VUSXX will also go down is that correct?
3rd Federal has 36 mths cd for 4.00%
Not sure if I should lock in on the cd.

If there is a rate cut next month, then yes, VUSXX will likely go down… I don’t know if it will go under 4% though… Anyone’s guess.

Thanks for confirming that. Will check brokered CDs on Fidelity if the rates are any good. I have a few CDs maturing that I am not sue to put in VUSXX or T-bills or brokered CDs Fidelity. Appreciate any thoughts anyone. These are raining day funds.
Thank you!

NASA FCU has special 9mo, 15mo, and 49mo Share Certificates, each w/10K minimums -

9mo at 4.59% APY
15mo at 4.45% APY
49mo at 4.40% APY

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Sallie Mae Bank 9 month 4.45%, 15 month 4.4% link.
Not as good as NASA FCU post above, but some people may already have a Sallie Mae account and potentially find it easier to deal with.

Myebanc has a 12-month 4.45% offer on jumbo ($50k+) CDs. Like the previous post, it’s not quite as good but comparable if you already have an account relationship or dislike the other places with similar offers.

Thanks, Turtlebug. Manage to catch the 49 mths 4.40% before it went down to 4.20%
Rates as of today at NASA FCU
9 mths at 4.20% APY
15 mths at 4.24% APY
49 mths at 4.20% APY

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EagleBank offers 6mo, 9mo, 12mo, 18mo & 24mo CDs at 4.40% APY with a minimum deposit of $1,000

Link

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Thanks, Turtlebug for the post on Eagle bank. Not familiar with them.
Was just reading back on some of the post back in 2020 by Shinobi, yourself and other members on this thread, when rates were tanking and am wondering if we are down the same path with rate cuts in the horizon.

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I’m of a boglehead’s mind on that subject: nobody knows nuthin’ :slight_smile:

I was of that mindset 2 years ago, and started locking in rates long term, as high as 5.4%. Nothing significant has really happened since, and now we’re halfway through the timeframe I’m set up to weather…

5% 20+ year Treasuries and 2.6% 20+ year TIPS are attracting my interest. They may or may not work out for the best, but it’d lock in my interest income pretty much for life and I wouldnt need to worry about constantly adjusting to ongoing rate fluctuations.

Wow, a 5% 20 year is even better than EE Bonds.

I’m planning to do something a bit along these lines but using a TIPS ladder to provide stable guaranteed fixed income to cover our basic needs (and a little over that) over the next 30 years. Ladder amounts would start at higher level until age 70 then decrease by the amount of social security payments.

It may not be the absolute best yield that I could get but it would be somewhat close and would (hopefully) mostly eliminate my rate chasing OCD ( and hopefully also foolproof against declining mental capabilities down the line). At the same time, it’d free the rest of my portfolio to be basically 100% stocks.

Main issue with this setup would be that I’ll probably still need to have a small emergency fund - likely be in short term treasuries - to handle temporary fluctuations in needs.

It’s worth noting that these rates are not interest rates, they’re yield to maturity. And a significant portion of that 2.6% TIPS return is tied up in the discounted price and isnt accessable annually.

One TIPS I have with a 2.6% YTM has an interest rate of 0.125%, paying $125 for every 100 owned. Considering the $65,000 price to purchase 100 right now, the annual cash return will only be 0.19% on your invested capital. So it would require significantly more capital to produce a fixed annual income than a regular 2.6% CD/Treasury - which for the same $65k investment would produce $1690 cash annually.

(I know interest is also paid on the accumulated inflation adjustment. That TIPS last paid me an annualized $150 interest payment instead of $125, so including that adjustment wouldnt move the needle.)

It’s just another factor to add to the equation.

Calculation of capital needed is a bit more complicated for a TIPS ladder since the fixed income is not only interest from TIPS but also the principal of the TIPS maturing each year.

For example, capital needed to provide $100k inflation-adjusted income from age 55 to age 70 would only be about $1.3M. An easy tool to build these is tipsladder.com.

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That is so wise of you! I am looking to lock up for 3-4 years for my rainy funds. So far, NASA has a pretty rate so I am locking in more 49months with a few of my CDs that have matured and are maturing.