Update
The TFCU and Andrews CD interest rates mentioned up thread continue today to be available.
These deals appear to me to be the best widely available rates in the USA. Local deals? Sure, there are local deals which are better . . . . but not everyone will be able to access those CD deals.
ETA
Note, too, the FBFCU deal posted here earlier by psychoslowmatic
Link to psychoslowmaticâs FBFCU deal
is an even better deal, or certainly every bit as good, than either TFCU or Andrews. It continues available now. And you only need $25k to do psychoslowmaticâs jumbo CD, not the $100k TFCU demands. BIG difference!!
Itâs here: Ally BankÂŽ 13-month Select CD | Special Promotional Offer
If you want to renew a CD, you can get an additional 0.05%.
There are certain credit unions you just gotta join. For lack of a better appellation I will call these âdealsâ credit unions. They, more often than not, have âstuff going onâ . . . . stuff which can put money into your pocket.
A prominent example is Keesler . . . but everybody already knows about Keesler. I offer you today a new name within this same genre: Blue Federal Credit Union. Blue is in Cheyenne. Anyone may join.
Give 'em a look.
Where can we find these local deals?
Many people use Kenâs website, here:
What do you like about Blue?
They have cool deals on a lot of stuff. Look through their web pages. And, as with Keesler, you never know what theyâre gonna offer next. So I guess I like the Blue management team, too.
Last time Andrews did their 3% CD it was available for a good long time. Hereâs hoping they do the same with this one because none of mine are maturing until in April. I had the previous 84 month CD till I broke it to put into the very limited 4% Cdâs we had available. At the time I did the math and had already had the Andrews 3 years so the term length between the 3 and 4 was mostly the same and over time the 1 additional % more than covered the penalty.
referring to shinobiâs post, Also, Andrews continues to offer you over 3%, provided you have at least $1000 to invest. But you must make an 84 month commitment⌠correct?
Good eye on Blue FCU. Theyâve got a 30 month add-on CD, rates are: 1.85% for $2k-50k, 2.1% for $50-100k, 2.35% for 100k+
Some kind of relationship rewards thing I didnât look into, curious if anyone gets into it
Yes, you are right. Here, once again for convenience, is the link to that deal:
Link to Andrews 3.05% APY CD deal
Deal is good at this hour BUT can change at any time. A good deal for folks who do not have big bucks ready to go at this time. A good deal for folks wanting over 3% APY on their investment. Not a good deal for folks uncomfortable with making a seven year commitment.
I try to post as much helpful stuff here, stuff related to CDs, as Iâm able to post. I realize not every item I post is helpful to or appropriate for every participant. I do as best Iâm able.
Now, here, a twist: Iâm asking for your help. Please. This is something for myself, personally, but it might (or might not) turn out to benefit all of us. Also, this is something I realize few of you ever likely have done. I have a lot of experience with CDs and I have never done this. So if there are no responses I will understand and it is OK.
Please share as much as you are able of your experience, if you have actual experience, with borrowing on a CD. My best understanding is the CD remains intact so no penalty. But you get the money and must pay the financial institution interest on what you have borrowed, but at a reduced rate. Again, I have no actual experience. If you do I would be grateful if you would share with our group here. Thank you.
My personal situation which prompts this request for help:
In the words of President Obama, I acted âstupidlyâ. A while back I got it in my head that it would be best to line up a bunch of CD maturities for the time period following the USA POTUS election. This means I have WAAAAY too many CDs maturing in 2021. Clearly this strategy was, and remains, a massive FAIL!!
So Iâm a consummate donkey, braying wildly, and searching for a way to get out of the deep pit I dug for myself, without having to pay early withdrawal penalties all over the place. I do not see interest rates recovering any time soon (just my opinion, not trying to convince anyone else). I need to lengthen my maturities big time on at least some of this 2021 money before the few deals out there now also evaporate.
On a related note:
You might wonder: why not just use your add-ons next year?
Well, that was the plan and remains the plan for some of the money. But rates are crashing so seriously that I question whether or not my add-ons will even continue to exist a year hence. After all, those add-on terms can be modified with just 30 dayâs notice! So looking for a way to seize upon the very limited number of existing âbirds in handâ, right now, before they fly the coop.
Again, only if you roll over and let them change the terms. Otherwise, the bank failing and the CDs being liquidated is the only thing preventing you from using the add-on feature. (I know you disagree, and I guess it is possible a CD could specifically state the add-on ability is entirely at the issuerâs discretion.)
But regardless - a secured loan isnt anything unusual. However, itâs typically going to cost you more than the underlying CD is earning. Obviously the specific details of each CD and loan are whatâs going to determine the bottom line - but since your looking a full year+ into the future, youâre probably going to be better off eating early withdrawal penalties than you will be carrying a CD and offsetting loan combo. With an early withdrawal penalty the new CDâs interest will offset the penalty and then start earning you money, while the loan is going to be a net-negative the entire duration.
As a side note, you dont know that your strategy was a fail. Itâs a bet that remains open. And even if it doesnt work out for the best, that still doesnt mean it was a bad bet at the time. Lengthening your maturities now could very well lock yourself in to below market rates for a much longer term. Rates dont have much further to fall (1% isnt much incremental movement); not to say theyâll be going up any time soon, but I feel the time to benefit from long-term rate locks has passed. If youâre suddenly that afraid of the political direction we may be heading, youâre probably best to get out of cash entirely.
Thank you, glitch99. Your reply is interesting and I hope benefits others, too.
But again, more than anything, I am hoping for responses from persons who might actually have gone through the process of borrowing on their CD. Itâs not something I ever have done.
I have done it a number of times. First, you have to see if the specific credit union allows it. Usually, the rate will be whatever your CD rate is plus a couple of points. You will be allowed to borrow a certain percentage of the CD amount and it will have to be paid at maturity of your CD or sometimes earlier, depending on the credit union. I have only done it when I need the money and I am only a few months away from the CDs maturing. If you do it an entire year before maturity, the interest costs will be very high and will probably exceed the prepayment penalty for the CD. Also, your credit score will get dinged.
Actually Iâm in that same boat⌠and to boot, most of my add-on CDâs mature in 2020.
But I like what glitch99 said, about âItâs a bet that remains openâ. Because if we lengthen these new CDâs maturity, we may end up with rates (at that time) below market. I have said often Iâm not to interested in CDâs over 3-4 years.
I have many CDâs that mature this year. So far Iâve managed to get at least 3% or close 2.98% for maturity year 22-24 & lastly one 2025. So letâs not get to discouraged!
shinobi, you may have some other problem to work on that could take several minds working together to help you out. Hopefully all these bright minds are here with lots of ideas. 
Thank you, goldendog . . . a lot! Very kind of you. That is the sort of input I am seeking. Great post.
And you know I havent, how? Thereâs nothing mythical about it, you call up the bank that holds the CD and ask about a secured loan using that CD as collateral. The loan rate/fees either makes it advantageous or it doesnt.
Now getting a loan from a bank thatâs backed by a CD held at another institution is going to be a bit more involved. But if you find someone thatâs willing, itâs still going to come down to the rate/fees.
I dont know what you think anyone could tell you about âthe processâ in general thatâs going to trump the rate and fees at banks you actually have access to? Itâs going to be 1) apply, 2) get the money, 3) cant cash out CD until loan is repaid. There isnt a whole heck of a lot more to it than that. No one here is going to be able to tell you if itâs an option with your specific CDs.
Such secured loans are generally meant to provide temporary cash flow, where you want to retain the CD and rate long term but temporarily need cash now. Itâll be very rare for the pieces to come together where itâs more advantageous than simply cashing out the CD early (like in goldendogâs example, with only a couple months to maturity and a large early withdrawal penalty).
Working now with goldendogâs information:
I am looking upon this as a sort of arbitrage . . . I think that is the right appellation. As goldendog points out, it can be an expensive approach if you borrow the money . . . period . . . and then use the borrowed money to make a purchase, for example. I agree with that very much.
But that is not my thinking. I would immediately reinvest the money into a new CD, one of the few I have been highlighting up thread for a while. Hence my net cost for the funds would be only what goldendog calls âa couple of pointsâ. This approach definitely merits a closer look.
Thanks again to goldendog for the very kind assist.