thanks … I called again and I spoke with a different CS and I was able to get my account number
Stick a fork. It’s done. Over
The NFCU CD alternative to PSECU, to the extent it once existed, has evaporated. For example, the NFCU five year is now at 2.4%!
My take:
I have to wonder whether or not PSECU will be able to keep their current three year CD deal alive at 3.25% until the end of this month . . . as currently promised. That rate at present is sticking out like the proverbial sore thumb. And that is to say nothing of their add-on feature . . . which enhances the value of the PSECU CD for many people.
When will too good to be true actually become too good to be true?
ETA
Did not intend to ignore, diminish, or decry, above, the three handle CD deal Ken has blogged at American 1 in Michigan (but open to all). Here is a link to Ken’s writeup:
Ken writes about American 1 CD deals
Note the high 3.19% APY Ken is indicating there, in his chart, for the SDFCU five year probably was accurate when Ken did that write up yesterday. It caught me by surprise and I just checked. That APY appears now to have fallen to 2.88% APY. Here is a link to the SDFCU rate page:
Interest rates are declining rapidly to where it becomes a challenge to keep up.
If anybody knows the answer, I would like to hear what it is. The Penfed EWP for certificates greater than 6 months is equal to 30% of what have been earned if the certificate had been held to maturity. So if you only had a one year left before a 5-yr certificate matured, would the EWP be 30% of the interest earned in remaining year of the certificate or is it 30% of the entire 5 years? Obviously a big difference depending how you interpret the language.
I read that as a 18 month EWP on a 5 yr CD ( 30% of the full term ), but I would definitely call and ask before breaking the CD.
ETA … I was curious enough to email customer service… Here is their response
"Within 365 days from the open date of the certificate, the penalty will be the
last 365 days of dividends earned. After 365 days from the open date of the
certificate have elapsed, the penalty will be 30% of gross amount of dividends
that would have been earned if the certificate had reached maturity.
Therefore, it would be 30% of the interest that would’ve been earned over the
5-year life of the certificate."
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Discussion of the PSECU gift horse CD deal has now, as of 31 October, extended even over onto seekingalpha.com, a stocks website for goodness sake!!
Sheesh 
ETA
OK. I’m sorry. I didn’t think anyone would be interested in the seekingalpha piece so I didn’t post a link. It’s mostly just blah blah blah from a stocks guy over there and from his viewpoint.
It appears as if I was wrong. So here is the link to that piece:
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Should I “put all my eggs in 1 basket”??
PSECU is such a good deal, that I have already stashed a huge amount of money there. So as I look toward 2020, starting in Feb-Apr I have several CD’s that mature.
Question… should I open those PSECU add-on’s you all are excited about? Should I just wait until those dates & take my chances?
Decisions, Decisions… 
Nobody here can tell you what to do, pattyb53. You must do what you believe is best for you. And obviously you must remain within NCUA insured guidelines no matter what you decide.
I can tell you what I am doing. I will try to secure the 3.25% APY interest rate on maturing CD funds of mine which will not become available until (some in) February and (the rest) in April.
And this will not be simple or easy for me to accomplish. I don’t have enough liquid money to make interim add-on deposits as high as I want to make. I’ve even all but shut down my side hustle to conserve funds. Shortage of liquid funds will stretch things out a bit, but it’s worth it to get the high rate given everything that is going on. It would be easy to cash in existing CDs and pay the penalty to obtain liquid funds. I’m not gonna do that.
If you do decide to do the stretch, be ultra circumspect about studying the terms and conditions. Read all of scanchain’s posts here, then read 'em again. Read all the posts over on Ken’s thread then read 'em again. It’s complex and would be easy to mess up. Above all, remember this is not a conventional add-on CD situation. Not at all.
ETA
As far as waiting and “taking your chances” goes:
I certainly do not believe interest rates in the first quarter of next year, or in April for that matter, will be very attractive compared to that PSECU CD rate. But, as always, remember interest rate predictions are very difficult to get right.
From everything I’ve read about these unconventional add-on CD’s, I think I’ll pass. I may be sorry when early 2020 is upon us.
As you said, I need to be sure the NCUA insurance is covered. I’m waiting for the POD Trust papers to arrive from PSECU because I’m already over my head.
Prudent approach. Weiss ratings gives PSECU a B+ rating. B+ from Weiss is a good rating, but not good enough in my view to go without insurance.
My benchmark at Weiss is NFCU. Weiss gives NFCU an A rating. NFCU is the only place, of many, where I have uninsured money. If the Weiss rating falls below A, I will be covering that NFCU money with insurance. But so far so good.
Weiss is a VERY tough grader when it comes to financial institution safety, far tougher than the system Ken relies on.
I was just reading over at Ken’s site.
A poster there reminded us of Keesler FCU 30 mo Jumbo CD 3.21%. He said it was still good. I just checked & he’s correct.
I’ve decided to forgo any more PSECU CD’s now, (my funds are depleted). I have CD’s maturing later in 2020 & perhaps Keesler FCU will be offering this good rate. What a good reminder! 
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I’m confused that you have uninsured money at NFCU. According to NFCU, their savings, CDs etc are covered by NCUA insurance:
Back when NFCU was offering the five year CDs at 3.5% APY I jumped in with both feet . . . . to where my investment there exceeds the NCUA allowed maximum.
There are ways to increase your NCUA maximum insured amount. I am well aware of those ways. I choose not to go that route for personal reasons I will not discuss here.
Anything over $250,000 is uninsured unless special measures are taken by adding a 2nd (or more) person to the account and/or setting up more than 1 POD (payable on death).
As a general rule most folks on here try to avoid talking about specific dollar amounts because 1) it’s really no one elses business and 2) others also on here have accused some of “bragging”.
We have a wide range of ages on the forum and some are handling their retirement assets which can involve large sums.
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Ken has gone and done it now. After ignoring the PSECU deal for a long time, while we here were all over it., Ken has now doubled down with another blog post.
It’s feast or famine over at Ken’s website. And at this point where PSECU is concerned he is in feast mode.
Related:
I agree with pattyb53 that the Keesler deal is attractive if you have dough now. I don’t.
But I’m a Keesler member. Have been making nice money with their great CC, but have no CDs there yet. Keesler is one of those places where you just gotta be a member. 
ETA
I have an additional thought I want to share. This is related to the longevity of the PSECU CD offering. Many are hypothesizing that PSECU, given such an overwhelming amount of publicity and attention, might be unable to keep their commitment to extend the deal through end of this month.
Consider that many of us are opening the CD only for the $500 minimum or thereabouts. So the immediate dollar inflows are likely NOT overwhelming PSECU. This might mitigate in favor of the deal enduring until the promised 11/30.
Other thing is that many of us will not even be activating the add-on feature until December. Until PSECU becomes aware of those activations, and of the transfer amounts heading their way still later, they might not realize what has happened to them.
Said another way, it’s gonna be a while before PSECU actually is slammed with incoming deposits. I hope they don’t end up pulling a GTE when the reality hits them.
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At what intervals can you set the add-on feature for PSECU certificates. Can it be longer than monthly? For instance, can it be every three months?
It has to be either monthly or bi-weekly (every two weeks).
I just called PSECU and they told me there is no way they will lower the rate until Nov 30. She was quite certain of this.
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There is no way I can open a PSECU CD until the very end of Nov. I won’t be liquid until April and will absolutely need the 60 days before initiating the recurring add-ons. Again, the CSR seemed absolutely certain this deal will last until Nov 30. Hope she’s right.
Justice Federal Credit Union is offering a “three handle” five year CD. You need at least $500 to play. The yield on JFCU five year is 3.00% APY. If you open a jumbo the yield is a little higher, but it takes $100,000 to get that account going.
Anyone can join JFCU. I joined years ago by first joining the NSA (National Sheriff’s Association). Here is a link to the JFCU rate page:
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PSECU is cutting their interest rates on the 2 and 3 year CDs tomorrow, Saturday.
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