It s important to remember that rates are subject to change over time.
5 year cd ladder.
Get a certificate of deposit with our highest fixed cd rate for a fixed term.
What is a cd ladder.
Build a cd ladder to grow your savings.
Choose a model cd ladder.
Instead of locking all your money up by opening.
The traditional cd ladder model divides your investment evenly over five cds with one cd maturing each year.
Over these 5 years your money will have grown a lot the whole time you were climbing.
Each year you d take a step up the ladder until you finally reach the rung your money is on in 5 years.
If you decide to renew your cd the bank may do so automatically and roll it into another cd with the same term as the old one.
If you had 10 000 to invest you could spread out your money like this.
Essentially a cd ladder is an investment strategy where you invest in a series of individual cds with staggered maturity dates.
But remember that means your money is in the cd for the full 5 year term unless you withdraw it.
A common cd ladder is to divide your money among five separate cds with staggered terms 1 year 2 year 3 year 4 year and 5 year so that one cd matures every year.
After four years all of your cds will be in five year cds earning the maximum amount of interest.
The five year five cd ladder this is the baseline cd ladder strategy we outlined above.
Once your cd matures you can renew it at the current rate withdraw your initial deposit along with the interest or both.
Five year cds are also a popular choice for cd ladder strategies.
The cd ladder illustrated below was calculated using your initial deposit amount and today s rates.
Sample 5 year cd ladder.
2 000 in a.
Once the 1 year cd matures you reinvest that money into a 5 year cd and you do that every year.
1 year 2 year or 5 year.
You open up five cds with staggered term lengths so that one new cd comes due each year and then renew it into a five year cd.
The downside of course is that you are much more likely to liquidate a 5 year cd in an emergency losing money to the penalty most banks charge for early withdrawals.
By using a cd ladder however you can get the higher rates that accompany longer terms while also reducing the risk that you ll need to liquidate a cd before it matures.
How we make money.
More about these products high yield cds.