Top 3-Year CD and IRA CD Rate at Fort Bragg Federal Credit Union in North Carolina

POSTED ON FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2010 BY Ken Tumin

APY	MIN	MAX	INSTITUTION	PRODUCT
0.85%	$25k	-	Fort Bragg Federal Credit Union	36 Month Jumbo Step Up Term Share Certificate
0.85%	$25k	-	Fort Bragg Federal Credit Union	36 Month Jumbo Step Up IRA Term Share Certificate (Traditional, Roth, CESA)
0.75%	$1k	-	Fort Bragg Federal Credit Union	36 Month Term Share Certificate
0.75%	$500	-	Fort Bragg Federal Credit Union	36 Month IRA Term Share Certificate (Traditional, Roth, CESA)

Accounts mentioned in this post. Rates as of September 28, 2016.

Fort Bragg Federal Credit Union has some very competitive 3-year CD and IRA CD rates: 2.48% APY for a $25K minimum and 2.37% APY for a $1K minimum. These rates are listed in the credit union's rates page as of 10/15/2010.

With a $5K minimum, you can add a step-up feature to these CDs which gives you the option to increase the rate to the current rate during the term. This can be handy if interest rates start to rise. According to the credit union's term share certificates page this step-up feature will only be available for a limited time.

Another nice feature of these CDs is a mild early withdrawal penalty. According to the fee schedule page, it's only 3 months loss of dividends (interest).

The credit union appears to have made it easier to join. In their Who's Eligible page, it states:

NEW! Our membership criteria has expanded allowing more people to join Fort Bragg Federal Credit Union! (some restrictions apply) Contact the Credit Union to see how you are eligible to join!

In addition to active and retired military, members of the Braxton Bragg Chapter of AUSA are eligible to join. When I reviewed this credit union last year, the website stated you must live locally within Cumberland County and adjacent counties. I don't see that restriction now. I sent an email asking about this, but I haven't received a reply. One reader commented about how he joined:

I joined AUSA -the Braxton Bragg Chapter as a civilian a year ago when I opened our account. As with most memberships that qualify you to become a credit union member, only a one year membership is required. As you know, once you are a member of a credit union, no continuing membership is required. The higher CD rate easily pays for the membership (I probably paid $33 as a civilian), and is even more worthwhile for a multi-year CD. Ft. Bragg FCU has consistently had superior rates, and the service has been professional.

If you have joined this credit union, please leave a comment about how you qualified.

Branches are located in Fort Bragg and in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

The credit union's overall health score is 4 out of 5 at DepositAccounts.com with a Texas Ratio of 5.48% (excellent) based on June 2010 data. Please refer to our financial overview of Fort Bragg Federal Credit Union for more details. The credit union is federally insured by the NCUA (Charter # 13690).

Thanks to the reader who commented on this credit union and CD rates.

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Comments

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8 Comments.

Anonymous | Oct 15, 2010 | Comment #1

Well its not "local" to me, but its about 2 hrs south. I sent email to my CU here (Ft Lee Federal Credit Union) about the better rates at so many other military affiliated CU's. I only was able to get 1.1% on a 12mo CD last week. if this continues I may well look into Bragg as its closer than Knox.

Anonymous | Oct 15, 2010 | Comment #2

addedum to my last post

the bigger picture in this Theather Of Operations isn't the problem with CU's, its the "little" general Benolion Bernakapart! He's the one taking savers to their Waterloo.

starlight | Oct 15, 2010 | Comment #3

if only there was something like this for non-military!

willtlor (anonymous) | Oct 15, 2010 | Comment #4

There is one SERIOUS weakness for quite a few potential customers that's associated with Ft. Bragg's term share certificates unless this has been changed since I last checked a few months ago, i.e.: unlike near all financial insttitutions, this credit union didn't provide for a customer to name a Payable On Death (POD) beneficiary (or even a couple of beneficiaries, which I have on some certificates, and which is very commonly permitted) to directly receive the proceeds of the certificate (or, for example, 1/2 the proceeds in the case of two beneficiaries) following your death). If you're a senior who doesn't want to set up joint ownership of your certificate for whatever reason, and you passed away before the your Fort Bragg term share certificate matured, the proceeds of the certificate would be payable to your estate, and thus subject to probate requirements. Maybe this credit union just doesn't want to bother with dealing with POD arrangements for certificates, but their setup seems to place them in a pretty small minority.

starlight | Oct 16, 2010 | Comment #6

doesn't joining AUSA cost $525 for lifetime membership if you are under 55? $525 would seriously offset interest earned.... is there some way around the $525 other than getting older? (ie if you are 70 and over membership is $250 for a LIFETIME membership hehehe

Anonymous | Oct 16, 2010 | Comment #7

ken

Please post back when you get a response about joining the braxton bragg chapter ausa

willtlor (anonymous) | Oct 17, 2010 | Comment #8

To Anonymous (Comment #5). I highly recommend anyone check with this credit union before assuming that a certificate may provide for POD beneficiaries. You mentioned "taxes" along with POD arrangements, however, my concern, Anonymous, is not with taxes, but with the necessity of probate for individuals who may predecease others whom they probably desire to receive funds from a certificate in an highly expeditious manner if the certificate owner dies before maturity of the certificate. If you examine the RATES section on Ft. Bragg's website, you will see that this credit union lists POD "ACCOUNTS" with a MAXIMUM interest rate of 0.75%, that seems to clearly confirm that their application section dealing with POD beneficiaries does NOT apply to CERTIFICATES. I was informed when I spoke with a CSR a few months ago that the above limitation is the case and I again urge any prospective investor in a certificate at this credit union to make the same inquiry. By the way, I believe ING also has no arrangement for PODs for a certificate, however, as I indicated, this is NOT the policy of most financial institutions.

willtlor (anonymous) | Oct 18, 2010 | Comment #9

This morning a member services representative I spoke with on the phone confirmed that Fort Bragg FCU still DOES NOT permit PAYABLE ON DEATH beneficiaries on their share certificates As mentioned earlier, this can be an especially undesirable feature for unmarried seniors who don't want to name another person as joint owner of a certificate but want to provide for someone else to expeditiously receive the funds of the certificate should the certificate owner die before the certificate matures. Otherwise if the certificate is in the certificate owners name only and the owner dies before the maturity date, the certificate is payable to the certificate owner's estate and subject to being settled through probate.

I think a column for this blog listing the certificate rates and headed "Notes" or similar-term would be a good time-saving help for savers who have a maturing certificate and want to reinvest it but who are possibly faced with an unattractive rate where their certificate is maturing. This column could use symbols in the column to indicate items that may be important not to overlook when thinking of reinvesting a certificate at another financial institution, and tell what the symbols mean in footnotes. For example, the column read: "R" (With footnote saying "Important restrictions on membership in credit union", 'R" (Footnote saying "Rating of bank by rating concerns is 1 to 2 stars", "P" (Footnote saying "180-day penalty imposed for an early withdrawal of funds"), 'POD", (Footnote saying Beneficiaries not permitted on certificates'', "C" (Footnote saying "Consent of bank required before early withdrawal of funds).