Key Takeaways
- President Trump’s unveiling this week of across-the-globe tariffs has raised the odds for rising inflation and even a recession.
- The swirling uncertainty is leaving many Americans with questions about the best places to keep their money right now.
- Fortunately, one strategy can inject some rock-solid predictability into your savings plan: a CD that guarantees its APY for months or years.
- While CDs always offer a locked-in return, today’s CDs are also paying historically high rates—as much as 4.65%.
- APYs that high likely won’t last, however, given expected Fed rate cuts. So it’s smart to lock in a top CD rate while you can.
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CDs Are Super Safe and Predictable—With the Bonus of Paying Really Well Right Now
President Trump announced plans Wednesday for worldwide tariffs that were stiffer than expected, and it has triggered a wave of revisions to economic forecasts. The probability of the U.S. entering a recession is now higher than earlier in the week, and the prospect of rising inflation is also greater—leaving the Federal Reserve in a tricky spot on deciding 2025 interest rates.
Fortunately, not everything is uncertain. While returns from the stock market are falling right now and savings account rates can drop at any time, certificates of deposit (CDs) are one savings tool you can count on to deliver a fixed and guaranteed return. Not only that, but you can choose to lock that return in for a few months, for several years, or for virtually any duration that suits your personal timeline.
Of course, a predictable rate is nothing special if the return is sub-par. That’s why today’s CDs are such a good option. Having benefited from the Federal Reserve’s historic rate-hike campaign of 2022–2023, the best CD rates are still riding high, offering a mid-4% return across all of the major terms.
Today’s top rate is 4.65%, available for a rate lock of 5–7 months—which would guarantee your return until this fall. Alternatively, you could opt to secure a rate as high as 4.40% as far down the road as 2030.
Whether you have liquid savings in the bank or are considering moving some of your investments into cash right now, you’re guaranteed to grow your balance with a CD. And because all of the options in our daily rankings of the best nationwide CDs are offered by FDIC-insured banks and NCUA-backed credit unions, your money is also federally protected (up to $250,000 per person and per institution).
Smart CD Strategies in Today’s Rate Environment
Certificates of deposit can boost what you earn over time by offering a fixed rate that the bank or credit union can’t lower. But there are certain smart strategies for making CDs work for you.
First, you’ll always want to keep some of your cash savings in a more liquid account, such as a high-yield savings account. That’s because CDs, in exchange for their guaranteed rate, require you to keep your funds on deposit until the CD matures. Cash out early and you’ll be hit with an early withdrawal penalty. By keeping some cash in reserve in a savings account, you can tap that first in case of emergency, and perhaps save yourself from cashing in a CD prematurely.
Put your reserve in a top Savings Account
Though savings accounts don’t offer rate guarantees like CDs, you can earn excellent returns from the top options right now. Today’s best high-yield savings accounts pay as much as 4.60%, with more than a dozen options paying at least 4.40%.
Second, it cannot be overstated how critical it is that you shop around. Across all FDIC banks, the national average for a 1-year CD is just 1.78%. But by shopping our daily rankings of the best CDs, you can find more than a dozen options in the 1-year range that pay 4.40% to 4.60%. That’s 2.5 times more than the national average.
Third, it can be useful to open more than one CD, splitting your funds across multiple certificates of different durations. Even if you aren’t striving to create a full-fledged CD ladder, spreading your money out over more than one CD, with different terms, means you’ll have funds becoming available at various times—which can perhaps help you avoid withdrawing funds from a longer certificate before it matures.
Act Now—Because Here’s Where Rates Are Likely Headed
Our last piece of advice is not to delay. According to the CME Group’s FedWatch Tool at the time of this writing, financial markets are currently pricing in around 60% odds that we’ll see Fed rate cuts totaling at least a full percentage point by the end of 2025. Time will tell if that comes to pass, but any reduction by the central bank will push savings accounts and CD rates lower. So it’s a smart move to lock in one of today’s stellar rates while they’re still available.
Daily Rankings of the Best CDs and Savings Accounts
We update these rankings every business day to give you the best deposit rates available:
Important
Note that the “top rates” quoted here are the highest nationally available rates Investopedia has identified in its daily rate research on hundreds of banks and credit unions. This is much different than the national average, which includes all banks offering a CD with that term, including many large banks that pay a pittance in interest. Thus, the national averages are always quite low, while the top rates you can unearth by shopping around are often 5, 10, or even 15 times higher.
How We Find the Best Savings and CD Rates
Every business day, Investopedia tracks the rate data of more than 200 banks and credit unions that offer CDs and savings accounts to customers nationwide and determines daily rankings of the top-paying accounts. To qualify for our lists, the institution must be federally insured (FDIC for banks, NCUA for credit unions), and the account’s minimum initial deposit must not exceed $25,000. It also cannot specify a maximum deposit amount that’s below $5,000.
Banks must be available in at least 40 states to qualify as nationally available. And while some credit unions require you to donate to a specific charity or association to become a member if you don’t meet other eligibility criteria (e.g., you don’t live in a certain area or work in a certain kind of job), we exclude credit unions whose donation requirement is $40 or more. For more about how we choose the best rates, read our full methodology.
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