When one is considering purchasing a CD for an investment purpose, CD rates are the biggest factor of which financial institution one chooses for the purchase of the CD. While banks and even “power-house” banks are on the top of many people’s lists, many forget to check out credit union CD rates which could offer higher rates than what the national average is.
Credit unions are structured differently, which allow for them to give lower rates. Banks are operating because they are looking to make a profit. Credit unions, however, were created to be able to offer members something a little better than standard alternatives. Their profit is given back to all of the members – often in the form of higher CD rates.
Credit union CD rates most commonly require a person to be a member or have an account with them. This may or may not be a possibility based upon the credentials for the account, though it needs to be a consideration.
Week after week, the rates from credit unions are beating the national average with significant margins – sometimes as high as entire percentage point. For this reason, the credit union CD rates are necessary to be at least brought into the realm of consideration. It is everyone’s goal who purchases a CD to make a decent rate of return on their investment, otherwise CDs wouldn’t exist.
When the CD rate is fixed, it is imperative that the rate is the highest possible amongst market values. The slightest increase in a rate can mean the difference of hundreds of dollars in profit as long as one follows the trends and does their homework. No one would willingly turn down a few extra hundred dollar bills in their pocket, which is what they would be doing if credit union rates weren’t considered.
The credit union rates aren’t going to be what the rates were before the bank rates collapsed entirely, but one can still anticipate them to be higher than what the average bank will offer.
It is important to consider the amount being invested with CDs as well. The higher the amount, the higher the rate. With credit union CD rates, though, this is not necessarily the case. In many instances, credit unions will offer a flat rate to all of their customers despite the amount of investment – as long as it reaches a particular minimum.
For anyone who is looking to invest a certain amount of money (typically $1,000 or more) and who wants to get the greatest rate of return, credit union CD rates need to be considered over any power house. A financial investor can point one into the direction of credit unions that have more open joining policies. This will ensure that the most profit is made, which is the goal of any investor.
One can actually begin to imagine a better investing portfolio when rates are actually over 1% and credit unions are closer to offering that than many other financial institutions in today’s market.
