Now is a good time to lighten up on your equity holdings if you haven't already. The Dow is down another 300 points today due to a weak economic manufacturing report. Equity prices are lower on the news and investors are fleeing into the safety of U.S. Treasuries, sending 10 year bond yields down another 9 basis points to 2.58 percent.
Equity prices and bond prices are moving lower and CD rates have moved slightly higher this past week. Reporting on higher CD rates is a nice change from the past 5 years when rates were going down. Some banks and credit unions are increasing their CD rates but overall, rates won't move much higher from current levels until the Federal Reserve increases the fed funds rate.
Best 1 Year CD Rates at 1.15% APY 1.16%
Pentagon Federal Credit Union is the new leader on our top 1 year CD rates list this week. PenFed tops our 1 year CD rate list with a rate of 1.15 percent with an APY of 1.16 percent. As with any credit union, you need to join PenFed to open a CD account.
The previous leader on our 1 year rate list last week was AloStar Bank of Commerce, which now has the second best rate at 1.09 percent with an APY of 1.10 percent.
Average 1 Year Bank CD Rates Jump Higher
Average 1 year certificate of deposit rates jumped this week from 0.75 percent to 0.81 percent. Besides, PenFed there have been a few banks increasing their 12 month CD rates, which has caused the average rate to increase 0.06 percent.
For most of 2013, the best CD rates on 1 year certificates of deposit were at 1.04 percent with an APY of 1.05 percent. We now have several banks offering that rate and yield as well as AloStar Bank of Commerce and PenFed offering higher 1 year rates. Our top 1 year rates are also higher than what most banks are offering for 2 year CD rates these days.
2 Year CD Rates
2 year CD interest rates are averaging 0.96 percent this week, no change from last week's average 2 year CD rate. The best CD rates on 2 year certificates of deposit also remain unchanged this week at 1.25 percent with an APY of 1.26 percent. PenFed is offering this 2 year rate and has held the top spot on our table for over a month now.
If you're not eligible to join PenFed and open a CD account with them, we have several banks offering 2 year CD rates just below PenFed's rate. CIT Bank is currently offering 24 month rates at 1.19 percent with an APY of 1.20 percent. CIT Bank has a minimum deposit of $25,000 to open a CD account.
If you don't have $25k to open an account with CIT Bank, GE Capital Bank only has a minimum of $500 and is currently offering a rate of 1.14 percent with an APY of 1.15 percent.
3 Year CD Rates
The top 3 year CD rate on our rate list this week is also from PenFed at 1.50 percent with an APY of 1.51 percent. PenFed's minimum opening deposit account for any of their "money market" certificates is $1,000. Right behind PenFed, we have Intervest National Bank currently offering 3 year bank rates at 1.44 percent with an APY of 1.45 percent. Intervest's minimum opening deposit is $2,500.
Other banks offering the top 5 rates on 3 year CDs this week include AloStar Bank of Commerce and Barclays Bank, both offering rates at 1.34 percent with an APY of 1.35 percent. AloStar Bank of Commerce has a minimum opening deposit of $1,000 and Barclays Bank has no minimum.
4 Year CD Rates
PenFed also has the highest CD rate on our rate table for 4 year CD accounts at 1.75 percent with an APY of 1.76 percent. The second highest rate is from Nationwide Bank at 1.66 percent with an APY of 1.67 percent (minimum of $500). The third best rate right now is from Intervest National Bank and Barclays Bank at 1.64 percent with an APY of 1.65 percent.
5 Year CD Rates
Average 5 year rates are at 1.50 percent this week, no change from last week's average 5 year rate. PenFed, which topped our 5 year rate list for about a month, has lowered their 5 year rate. PenFed's old rate on 5 year CDs was 3.00 percent with an APY of 3.04 percent. Their new rate of 2.00 percent dropped them to fourth place.
The new top rate on our 5 year list is at 2.13 percent with an APY of 2.15 percent from Barclays Bank and iGObanking.com. The second best 5 year rate is from EverBank at 2.10 percent with an APY of 2.12 percent. The third top rate is from State Farm Bank at 2.03 percent with an APY of 2.05 percent.
