Key Takeaways
- Allocating some of your money to a CD can boost your overall savings balance by year's end, helping you reach your 2024 savings goals.
- The highest-paying CDs now offer rates of 5.50% to 6.00% for 3 to 11 months.
- Depending on how much you put in a CD and the rate you lock in, we calculate how much you can earn each month and by the end of this year.
- If you can commit some of your savings longer than 2024, you can benefit from a longer-term CD, guaranteeing one of today's high rates for a year or more—even if the Fed begins cutting rates.
- It's also smart to keep some of your savings accessible by putting it in one of today's top-paying, high-yield savings accounts.
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Short CDs Provide the Maximum 2024 Savings Boost
If you primarily have your eye on saving as much as you can this year but aren't sure you want to commit your funds very far into the future, a short-term certificate of deposit (CD) is a smart move. And right now, you're in luck. That's because banks and credit unions expect the Federal Reserve to reduce interest rates sometime this year, and as a result, they're offering their highest CD rates on short terms.
We rank the best CD rates in the country every day, and right now, the top rates range between 5.50% and 6.00% APY, with eight options to lock in that rate. While the shortest terms are 3 and 5 months, which won't get you all the way to 2025, five of the eight offers in this top rate tier will let you maximize your earnings all the way to the end of 2024, or even a few months into the new year.
So, how much can you bump up your 2024 savings by putting some of your money into one of these top-paying CDs? Here are the various earnings possibilities for CD deposits ranging from $1,000 to $25,000, invested in a CD paying 6.00%, 5.55%, or 5.50% APY.
For Longer-Lasting Savings Benefits, Lock a CD Rate Until Mid-2025—or Beyond
If you can manage to sock away some of your savings longer than just the next six months, you can consider opening a longer-term CD. While the rates on these certificates are a bit lower than the top rates you saw above, they offer the significant advantage of guaranteeing their rates much further into the future.
That means if the Federal Reserve lowers interest rates one or more times this year or makes cuts in 2025 as well, the interest rate of the CD you lock in now will keep delivering its higher earnings until the CD matures. In other words, you could be earning one of the rates below—predictably and with a guarantee—until 2025, 2026, or even as long as 2029.
Be Sure to Earn a Top Rate on Non-CD Savings, Too
When deciding to open a CD, it's always smart to make sure you keep some of your savings accessible. You don't want to commit all of your available savings to a CD because if you take money out of the CD before the end of its maturity term, you'll be hit with an early withdrawal penalty.
The smart solution is to keep some of your savings in a high-yield savings account where it can earn a good return and allocate a portion of savings you feel confident you can live without one or more CDs. We make it easy to find a top-paying account with our daily ranking of the best high-yield savings account rates, where the top rate is currently 5.55% APY.
The downside of savings accounts
While the current top savings account rate of 5.55% APY is competitive with CDs, it's important to know that savings account rates come with no guarantees. Banks and credit unions can lower savings account rates any time they wish. And with Fed rate cuts likely to come this year, savings account rates are expected to be lower by year's end than they are now. In contrast, the rate on an existing CD cannot be lowered.
21 Best CD Rates for July 2024: Up to 6.00% APY
Best High-Yield Savings Accounts for July 2024—Up to 5.55%
Best Money Market Account Rates for July 2024—Up to 5.35%
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.
