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You can get an individual retirement account (IRA) certificate of deposit (CD) with terms ranging from three months to more than six years, with interest rates generally increasing with the term length. There are lots of options, so we’ve rounded up the top IRA CD rates that are available right now for a variety of terms.
Every month, we choose the best IRA CD rates using data from DepositAccounts.com, a database of offerings at thousands of banks and credit unions. We sorted the products by annual percentage yield (APY). We then eliminated products that are not available nationwide. From there, we chose the IRA CD with the highest APY among products with a minimum deposit no greater than $5,000. Here are the best options.
| CD term | Financial institution | APY | Minimum opening deposit to earn APY |
|---|---|---|---|
| 28-day | MutualOne Bank | 0.45% | $5,000 |
| 3-month | Service Credit Union | 0.40% | $500 |
| 6-month | EFCU Financial Credit Union | 0.85% | $500 |
| 1-year | Department of Commerce Federal Credit Union | 2.00% | $500 |
| 2-year | Department of Commerce Federal Credit Union | 2.62% | $500 |
| 3-year | Department of Commerce Federal Credit Union | 2.80% | $500 |
| 4-year | Department of Commerce Federal Credit Union | 2.88% | $500 |
| 5-year | Department of Commerce Federal Credit Union | 2.93% | $500 |
MutualOne offers a 28-day CD with a 0.45% APY paid at maturity, with a required minimum daily balance of $5,000. The bank offers additional CDs of different maturities as well, up to 61 months, with APYs ranging from 0.40% to 0.55%.
Headquartered in Massachusetts, MutualOne Bank has branches only in the northeast, but serves clients nationwide online. It was formed in 2012 when Framingham Cooperative Bank merged with Natick Federal Savings Bank.
Service Credit Union offers an array of IRA CDs, including a 3-month CD with a competitive APY of 0.40%. This CD requires a $500 minimum deposit, and dividends are compounded and credited monthly.
Membership to Service Credit Union is open to anyone who is tied to the military, works for the Department of Defense, or select employer groups or is a members of American Consumer Council, which you can join free of charge using the promo code “sService.” The financial institution is headquartered in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Branch locations are in New Hampshire, North Dakota, Massachusetts and Germany, but account holders can also use Service Credit Union’s CO-OP and Allpoint nationwide network as well as its online banking services.
EFCU Financial Credit Union is offering the highest APY on a 6-month IRA CD, 0.85% with a $500 minimum balance.
There are a number of ways to become a member of EFCU Financial, including living or working in one of nine Louisiana parishes or donating to the EFCU Financial Foundation or the Louisiana Wildlife Federation.
Department of Commerce Federal Credit Union dominates our list this month, taking two-thirds of our best-of spots.
The minimum to open a CD is $500, which gets you their high APY. Have loads more to stash away? If you open the account with $25,000, you’ll earn 0.10% on top of that rate. You can opt to have your earned interest applied to the CD or deposited in a savings or checking account.
Washington, D.C. has been home to the DOC FCU since it was founded nearly 100 years ago. Living (or working, attending school, or worshipping) in the area qualifies you to become a member, as does working at the Department of Commerce or being related to someone who does. For everyone else, the easy way to qualify is by joining the American Consumer Council.
Opening an IRA CD generally requires filling out a form or talking to a banker. You’ll have to have a way to fund your IRA CD, whether that’s rolling over an existing retirement account into an IRA CD or depositing cash into the product. The same limits that apply to IRA contributions apply to IRA CDs: $6,000 per year ($7,000 if you’re over age 50) of your own money across all your IRA accounts each year, and you can do a rollover once per year.
Unless you’ve invested in a bump-up IRA CD, you won’t be able to take advantage of a higher rate until your CD matures. Withdrawing funds from an IRA CD before they mature will result in a stiff penalty. Bump-up IRA CDs give you a chance to increase your interest rate to a higher level if it’s available, but you’re generally only allowed to do this once or twice during the life of the CD.
You can either use the direct-transfer method or the indirect-transfer method. The direct transfer method requires setting up your new IRA account by filling out a form authorizing the bank or credit union to transfer money from the old account into the new account. The indirect transfer method involves you asking for a check from your old IRA account. You have up to 60 days to deposit that check into your IRA CD to avoid incurring a penalty.
