CD ladder: What it is and how to build one
A CD ladder lets savers benefit from higher rates without locking up all your money in long-term CDs.
About the author
Yuliya Goldshteyn is a banking editor at Bankrate. She’s spent the last three years covering all aspects of consumer banking and specializes in helping people feel confident about their money decisions. Her areas of expertise include high-yield savings accounts, bank account management, certificates of deposit, overdraft fees, bank bonuses and saving strategies.
Before working in personal finance, Yuliya was an editor and researcher in wide-ranging industries, including marketing, healthcare and academia. She has a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of California, Berkeley and a master’s degree in social sciences from the University of Chicago. After all that, she still enjoys reading about Soviet history.
Yuliya is based in Portland, Oregon. When she’s not scouring the fine print of deposit agreements, she can be found hiking around the local stratovolcanoes and printing greeting cards on her antique letterpress.
Yuliya wants you to know
Don’t be afraid to switch banks or bank accounts. You don’t have to be stuck with the fees of the checking account your parents opened for you when you were 16 or even the savings account you opened last year that you thought you might like but don’t. Open a new account that better meets your needs first, then transfer over any direct deposits and bills being paid from your old one. Once you’re sure nothing will post to your old account that will overdraw it, close it. You won’t be hurting your credit score, and you’ll enjoy a better banking experience.
A CD ladder lets savers benefit from higher rates without locking up all your money in long-term CDs.
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Discover Bank offers a variety of CD terms that pay competitive yields. Here are the rates Discover offers on its CDs.
Marcus by Goldman Sachs offers CDs across numerous terms — from six months to six years with just $500 being needed to open an account.
Chase offers a wide selection of CDs with various term lengths, but savers can find much higher APYs elsewhere.
CIT Bank is an online-only institution that offers several CDs, with terms ranging from six months to five years. Some terms are competitive.