Certificates of Deposit Alaska

Certificates of deposit are financial instruments issued by a financial institution for a specific dollar amount and period. They can range from $500 to $5,000 or more, though the most depositors tend to limit them to $5,000 and invest larger amounts into a money market account that pays higher interest and is has more liquidity than Certificates of Deposit. On the other hand, Certificates of Deposit must remain on deposit for the specific amount of time that you designate when you purchase the CD, or you will pay a penalty in addition to losing the higher interest rate that a CD normally pays.

Unlike statement savings accounts or money market accounts, you purchase Certificates of Deposit in pre-determined denominations such as $500, $1,000, $5,000, and so on as specified by the financial institution. If you are looking for a higher interest rate for your savings but want something that you can access quickly and without a problem, a Certificate of Deposit is not the right account for you. While long term Certificates of Deposit offer a better interest rate in many cases, a short term Certificate of Deposit may only tie up your funds for a six month period. For customers who have funds that they wish to keep on deposit for the entire length of the requirement, these type of accounts work quite well. Consider the length of time associated with a particular Certificate of Deposit before you invest your funds. However, if you are the type of person who needs frequent access to your funds, you will pay more in penalties than the extra interest you will earn using CDs instead of a statement savings account. Money market account holders are allowed to make three withdrawals per month with no penalty as long as the balance remains within the minimum limitations, which works much better for those who have a tendency to need to make regular withdrawals.

Banks offer several different types of savings accounts from which you can choose, but a Certificate of Deposit usually has the highest interest rate. To define a Certificate of Deposit simplistically, one can say it is a monetary instrument with a set monetary amount for a specified number of months. The interest rate on a Certificate of Deposit is contingent upon the term of the CD, with the interest rate becoming higher the longer the term of the CD. What this means is that a $500 Certificate of Deposit yields a lower interest rate than a one-year Certificate of Deposit. Unlike savings account, you purchase a CD in a set amount such as $500, $1,000, $5,000, and so on, and if the need arises to make a withdrawal, you must cash out the entire CD; you cannot simply withdraw the portion you need as you can with a savings account or money market account.

Only certain types of depositors fit the requirement for a Certificate of Deposit, and that type is those who have the financial ability or funding to purchase the CD and leave it on deposit until it matures. Only by leaving the Certificate of Deposit untouched for its entire term can you expect to gain any of its benefits. If you are unable to allow the CD to mature before cashing it in, you are much better off with statement savings. Even a money market account is intended for those who rarely touch the funds since few withdrawals means less potential for the account to go below the minimum balance requirement. It is important for you to answer that question before you open the account in order to determine if a Certificate of Deposit is the right type of account for your needs. While a Certificate of Deposit is a great savings option, it does require that you have the funds to leave your money untouched for a set period of time.

For the majority of people, purchasing a Certificate of Deposit means converting statement savings funds into a higher interest bearing account. Quite often, the typical process is to take some of the funds in the savings account and use it to purchase a Certificate of Deposit, leaving some funds in the statement savings in case they are needed for something else. This makes good sense since leaving nothing in the statement savings means having to cash in the Certificate of Deposit if the cash is needed, thus paying a penalty for early withdrawal.

Even if you are a high deposit customer, putting all of your money into CDs is not a wise decision to make. If you don’t want to utilize statement savings, you can take advantage of a money market account, which still allows limited access to your money without the penalties imposed upon early withdrawals of Certificates of Deposit. Money market accounts also often higher returns in many cases. For those who are not as fortunate and have only minimal cash in statement savings, the wise thing is to wait until you have more enough in the savings account to purchase a Certificate of Deposit and still have money remaining in the statement savings account. You never want to tie up all of your savings in CDs because of the possibility that you may need some of the money. It is less expensive to keep some cash in statement savings that to perhaps forfeit the higher interest rate and pay a penalty if you have to withdraw the funds that you have invested in Certificates of Deposit. A typical rule of thumb is to have at least two months’ salary in a savings account, so if you want to tie up your savings into CDs for the higher interest, make sure you still have enough easily accessible funds in a savings account to carry you for that two-month recommendation.

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1480 E. Bethany Home Rd. Ste.100
Phoenix, AK