New CD's

[Fishindude77]

We've traditionally kept some $$ in a few CD's that had been in there for quite a while just tucked away safely, but earning pretty poor returns. Saw my bank was running a new CD special 4%+ so had a talk and they let me get into these new rates with a very small "early close out" charge on the old CD's. The new interest rates will far surpass these minor charges so it was a no brainer to do.

Talk to your bank if you've got CD's at low rates. They were more than happy to do this for me and retain the business, most banks need the deposits in current environment.

[Drake3287]

Assuming this link works, here's a "When to break a CD calculator" which makes this decision much easier. I used it recently in order to get a better rate.

https://www.depositaccounts.com/TOOL...ALCULATOR.ASPX

[ua_guy]

I've got a question... How much of your EF or extra money do you put in a CD? I know the amount varies by person, but, would you feel comfortable putting in half your EF on a 6-12mo CD? Our credit union is offering some attractive rates. Would you do more? Less?

[Jluke]

I've got a question... How much of your EF or extra money do you put in a CD? I know the amount varies by person, but, would you feel comfortable putting in half your EF on a 6-12mo CD? Our credit union is offering some attractive rates. Would you do more? Less?

Example 25k: You could try to open 5 CDs at 5k each and then if you need to break one or more you wouldn’t be breaking the full amount.

[Fishindude77]

I've got a question... How much of your EF or extra money do you put in a CD? I know the amount varies by person, but, would you feel comfortable putting in half your EF on a 6-12mo CD? Our credit union is offering some attractive rates. Would you do more? Less?

We're retired, kids are gone, everything is free and clear, so don't really have a dedicated emergency fund. Can pull money from savings / checking accounts, CD's or IRA in event of an emergency.

There is typically a penalty for early withdrawal of CD's but it's generally not a massive amount like getting into your 401k would be. A common strategy is to build yourself a CD Ladder with several CD's at different maturity dates so that one is maturing every 3-6 months giving you access to that $$ without penalty.