It's hard to find rates in the 3.00% range but there are still a few insititutions keeping their rates above that mark. Navy Federal Credit Union takes the spotlight this week for its 3.00% APY 20-Month IRA CD. The retirement CD has a low minimum deposit requirement of $50. That's a great rate considering that the best 5-year CD from a bank is 2.78% APY and from a credit union it's 3.10% APY.
IRA CDs are certificates of deposit that are held within individual retirement accounts. They accrue interest just like regular CDs although because the certificate is held in a retirement account, the interest is tax deferred (Traditional IRA) or tax free (Roth IRA). The limit for contributing to an IRA each year is:
- Traditional IRA - An amount equal to your taxable income up to $5,000 or up to $6,000 if you are 50 or over.
- Roth IRA - Same as the Traditional IRA, with one exception: you cannot contribute if your income exceeds a certain level for your tax filing status.
Once money is in a Traditional or Roth IRA, you can move between different investment options, with an IRA CD being one of them.
The 20-month Navy certificate has a maximum balance limit of $18,000. Unlike regular CDs, you can make additional deposits to the IRA CD at any time. At maturity, the CD will automatically convert to a 24-month IRA CD at the prevailing rate if you don't specify otherwise or move the money elsewhere.
In October, I highlighted Navy Federal's 12-month 3% CD special (offer still good). In the article I explained that:
"Credit unions, unlike banks, often restrict membership. In the case of Navy FCU, the membership criteria is quite broad. You have to have some relation to the military, civilian or uniformed personal, or be a grandparent, child, or grandchild of someone who does. A complete elibibility list is here. Note: I called and was told that if you are a child or grandchild, parent or grandparent must have retired from the military, not just served in order for you to qualify."
Navy Federal Credit Union is the largest credit union in the United States according to BestCashCow data with $45 billion in assets, up $1 billion from last quarter. It is NCUA insured. The credit union has a low Texas Ratio of 8.34%, normally a sign that the institution is sound.
New - Email Rate Updates for BestCashCow Readers
I also wanted to announce that we recently added a new feature to the site. Users can now register to receive the best bank rates via email every Monday. You can choose to either receive the best rates for banks across the country, or you can receive the best rates for your state. You can cancel delivery at any time and also login to change which product rates you receive for which state. This email service is free. You can register for the service here.
I hope to eventually also have the weekly rate updates go out via this email service.
Previous Weekly Rate Deals
- January 5, 2012 - Consumers Credit Union Offers 4.09% APY Rewards Checking Account - Nationally Available
- December 29, 2011 - Aflac Federal Credit Union Offering 2.41% APY Savings Account
- December 19, 2011 - CIT Bank and Its 1.15% APY 12-Month Achiever CD
- December 12, 2011 - Citizens State Bank of TX Offering 2.85% IRA CD
- December 5, 2011 - Digital Federal Credit Union Offering 2.86% APY CD - Nationally Available
Check back next Monday for a new bank deal. Email any deals you know about to ratedeal (at) bestcashcow.com. Feel free to also share them below. If you're a bank and have a great deal not listed on BestCashCow, register for access and add the deal to the site.
New- Remember, to receive FREE weekly emails updates with the best bank rates for your state, click here to register.
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