Top 5-Year CD Rate at Actors FCU in LA, NYC & Chicago - Limited Membership

POSTED ON TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013 BY Ken Tumin

APY	MIN	MAX	INSTITUTION	PRODUCT	DETAILS
4.07%	$500	-	Actors Federal Credit Union	60 Month CD
0.75%	$250	-	Actors Federal Credit Union	60 Month IRA (Traditional, Roth)

Rates as of May 16, 2024.

It's rare to find a financial institution in major cities that offers top CD rates. A year ago I found one, but unfortunately, it's not easy to qualify for membership. The institution is Actors Federal Credit Union which has branches in New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago. Its 5-year CD and IRA CD rates continue to be very competitive. The 5-year CD has a 2.00% APY, and the 5-year IRA CD has a 2.15% APY. Minimum deposit is $500. These rates are listed in the credit union's rates page as of 2/19/2013.

As I mentioned above, it doesn't appear to be easy to qualify for membership. The credit union lists several dozen organizations. If you're a member or employee of one these, you may be able to qualify for credit union membership. As you might expect, most of these organizations are related to acting. There might be some associations in which you can join without being an actor. Make sure to check with the credit union before joining one of these associations to ensure it will qualify you for credit union membership. In the past there have been cases that a credit union only allowed employees of an organization to join. Members didn't qualify. Please refer to the credit union's Who Can Join page for the full details.

Even if you find an association that you can join to qualify for credit union membership, it might not be worth it if the association membership fee is high. Last year a reader mentioned that the Washington DC Federation of Musicians has easy qualifications, but it costs $162 to join. I noticed today that DanceUSA appears to have easy qualifications. However, individual membership costs $100. If you find another easy-to-join association that's in the credit union's FOM, please leave a comment.

Actors Federal Credit Union has an overall health score at DepositAccounts.com 5 stars (out of 5) with a Texas Ratio of 2.11% (excellent) based on September 2012 data. Please refer to our financial overview of Actors Federal Credit Union for more details. The credit union is federally insured by the NCUA (Charter # 15358).

How These CD Rates Compare

The best 5-year CD and IRA CD rates that are nationally available are only around 2.00%. The best deal is at Mountain America Credit Union which has a 5-year CD and IRA CD with a 2.00% APY. Unlike a few other ones, this has no checking requirement.

For banks, the highest 5-year CD rate that's nationally available is 1.85% APY. Four banks that are offering this rate include Green Bank, N.A., CIT Bank, Barclays and Nationwide Bank.

These rates are accurate as of 2/19/2013.

Searching for the Best CD Rates

To search for the best nationwide CD rates and the best CD rates in your state, please refer to the CD rates section of DepositAccounts.com.

ImageAWorldWithoutMusic | Feb 19, 2013 | Comment #1

Actually, unless I missed something according to their page, the only AFM (musicians union) locals you can use to join now is Boston, or 802 (the New York City local), not DC. Interesting that those who are members of Local 47 (the LA/Hollywood branch) do not qualify. I don't know what 802's membership dues are, but the large locals are in the $175-$200 range per year. If you're already a member of another AFM local (such as where you live), you might check with AFM HQ in NY, or call up local 802 in NY, and ask about joining, because I know they do give discounts if you're already a member of another local (not sure if it's 1 additional or 2 additional where the discounts kick in), so in that case it wouldn't be as much to join. Just as a note, though a 2% CD is good, I believe you can still find 2% 5yr-CDs elsewhere if you look carefully (it's not something fantastically special).