Jumbo makes everything better doesn’t it? Jumbo shrimp always taste better than regular shrimp. Jumbo jets took off in the 70’s and exponentially increased the number of annual passengers. The Jumbotron at sporting events allow you to see replays of the game you used to miss. And as luck would have it, Jumbo CD’s can offer you a better interest rate than their regular high-yield counterparts.
A Jumbo CD is just like a regular CD except for the fact that in order to open one, you need at least $100,000. In return for opening this very large CD, banks will typically provide you a better interest rate. You see, when they are able to lock down more of your money for a longer period of time, they can use that money for other things. Lending to small business, investing into other projects–banks can usually get a better return on your money than you can.
Just one problem.
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Jumbo CD’s Are Fake News
So now that you know what a Jumbo CD is, you should also know it’s a term that in today’s banking world, almost doesn’t exist. Of all the national banks you’ve come to know and love from reading DoughRoller (Ally, Barclays, Synchrony, Marcus, Discover, Chase, Citi. etc), NONE of them offer Jumbo CD’s. CIT happens to be the only bank we’ve written about that offers Jumbo CD rates, and to be quite honest, they’re not all that special.
If you search hard enough online, you will come across a couple of local credit unions that offer strong Jumbo CD rates. M.Y. Safra Bank and Veridian Credit Union can typically match the regular CD’s offered by house hold name brands and they may even beat interest rates by a tick or two. But both banks are restricted to local members and those that open up credit union accounts; so they’re not worthwhile if you live elsewhere.
The Best Jumbo CD Rates
Here are some of the best rates on online CDs available today
Even though your money won’t work overtime if you deposit $100,000, CD rates today are the strongest they’ve been in a decade. Below you will find the best CD rate for the five most popular lengths. Nine months, one year, two years, three years, and five years. All banks are FDIC insured for $250,000 per depositor so have faith that your money is always protected.
Barclays (One Year)–If you can find a one year CD that offers a little bit more then the best online savings account rates; it’s a good CD. Barclays one year CD does just that, providing a 2.25% APY for the term.
To open a Barclays CD, there is no minimum deposit requirement. The CD will auto renew after nine months and you’ll have 14 days to withdraw your funds if you so desire. If you need to withdraw your funds early, the early withdrawal penalty for CD’s up to 24 months is 90 days interest. Considering this is such a short CD length that beats out some of the best saving account APY’s; if you’re not 100% certain the money can remain untouched for nine months, consider the 2.05% APY the Barclay’s savings account offers.
- No minimum deposit required
Synchrony Bank (12 Months)–This CD is what I consider to be the best CD on the market today. Synchrony is offering a 12-month CD with an interest rate of 2.25%. You won’t find a one year CD with a better rate and two percent+ for such a short term is simply fantastic.
The only caveat of the Synchrony 15-month CD is that it requires a minimum deposit of $2,000. That’s not nearly the size of a jumbo CD, but it is large enough to scare away a few potential customers. Like Barclays above, the early withdrawal penalty on a one year CD is 90 days simple interest. If one year and one month is too long a term for you, consider the Synchrony savings account which currently offers an APY of 1.90%.
- $2,000 minimum deposit required
Marcus (by Goldman Sachs) (Five Years)–What a strange name for a bank. Imagine telling people you bank with Jenny or Theodore! Setting aside that oddity the new “Marcus” takes a big swing right away by offering new five year CD members a great 2.40% APY. Also great is that the minimum to open this CD is only $500.
The early withdrawal penalty for closing a five year CD early is 270 days simple interest. That’s actually no too bad so long as you cross the three or four year marker before having to close the CD. With a rate of 2.40%, you’ll still be able to bank a considerable amount of interest, even with the penalty. Marcus also currently offers a very competitive 1.90% APY on their online savings account product. The minimum deposit required to open a savings account is just $1.
- $500 minimum deposit required on a CD
It wasn’t too long ago that putting your money into a CD yielded almost the same return as putting it under your mattress. It didn’t matter whether you put $1,000 or $100,000 into a CD, interest rates were under 1% and there weren’t moving. Today however, there’s a real opportunity to park your money into a CD with a very strong APY.
Did we miss something? If you can find a Jumbo CD that competes with the interest rates above, let us know!
The CD’s rates noted in this column are decent but will become dated as of the FOMC meeting on 20 / 21 March of this year. A year from now ALL rates quoted today will be 75 basis point higher (and perhaps 100 basis points). You should explain to your readers that locking in a CD long term is not a very smart thing to do in a rising interest rate environment. And if what former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan has been stating about ‘stagflation’ coming back, the Fed Funds will go higher than the ‘so-called’ experts think. Thanks for reading.