Certificates of deposit (CD) are akin to savings account in banks and credit unions, thus, practically risk-free for investors. However, it is important to note that for added deposit protection, opt for those financial institutions with insurance from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation for banks and the National Credit Union Administration for credit unions. You will want to know how much your CDs will be worth after its fixed term, which usually ranges from 3 months to 5 years. In this case, you only need to know four things: the principal amount of the CD, the fixed term, the fixed interest rate and the compounding interval. From these data, you can compute for the two most important rates on determining the value of the CD - the annual percentage yield and the annual percentage interest rate.
Before investing in a CD, you have to be updated with the news in terms of the financial markets and the economy. You want to make informed and educated decisions that will lock in the highest interest possible given the market conditions. For you to make educated decisions, you must at least know the general guidelines that affect interest rates on CD:
To manually compute for the APY, just use the following formula: APY = (1 + r/n )n - 1 where r is the interest rate in its decimal form and n is the number of compounding periods per year. From the final results, you can then decide what is the best CD for your needs where APY is concerned.
If you want to make life easier, you can always log in to a website that features CD rates calculations. Just enter the necessary data and, in just minutes, you have your answer. When you compare CDs based on APY, the one with the highest APY is the best choice since you will enjoy the highest interest benefit, too. However, you must also take note of other factors like callability, withdrawal options and interest payment options.
If the Federal Reserve keeps its fund rate low, then certificate of deposit rates won’t rise. But, if the economy improves, the Federal Reserve will raise the fund rate and CD rates will slowly climb. There is no way, short of a crystal ball, to know when or how fast the rates will rise.
Again, you can use the online calculators offering APR computations to make heads or tails of the figures. You just enter the deposit amount, the annual interest rate provided, the number of months until maturity, and the compounding interval (daily, monthly, quarterly, semi-annually and annually). You will then be provided with the future value, interests earned and even the APY.
When the one year CD matures, you would invest in another five-year CD. As each CD matures, you would do this same thing. This spreads the CD rates out over a number of years and is a safer way to invest.
Another way to invest in a certificate of deposit, is look for a bank that is offering the opportunity to raise your rate. Currently, Ally Bank is offering a two-year CD at an interest rate of 2.10% APY and will allow you to raise your rate once during the two years. So if interest rates rise, you won’t lose out.
Brian writes for a CD interest rate blog where he updates the best CD interest rates.