United States Senate FCU Nudges Up Rate On Top 60-Month CD

POSTED ON THURSDAY, JANUARY 3, 2019 BY Ken Tumin

UPDATE 1/17/2019: rates lowered to 3.53% APY ($60k+), 3.47% APY ($20k+), 3.41% APY ($1k+).

Deal Summary: 60-month Share Certificate – 3.69% APY ($60k min), 3.62% APY ($20k min), 3.56% APY ($1k min)

Availability: Easy membership requirement

In the past twelve months, United States Senate Federal Credit Union (USSFCU) has added 114 bps to its 60-month Share Certificate top-tier APY in six rate changes. This week’s six bps increase bolsters the 60-month Share Certificate’s position as the rate leader for nationally available 5-year CDs. It’s nice to see an institution raising the rate on a long-term CD, while so many others are concentrating on short-term rates.

The 60-month Share Certificate is also available as an IRA (Traditional, Roth, SEP), earning the same tiered APYs with the same funding requirements.

All of USSFCU Share Certificates have tiered APYs based on deposit levels of $1k, $20k, and $60k. USSFCU’s Share Certificates page lists the 3.69% APY for deposits of "$60,000 - $99,999 plus Jumbo." Jumbo does not refer to a separate Jumbo Share Certificate, but to deposits of more than $99,999. In other words, there is no stated balance cap for the top tier APY.

As stated on the Fees and Charges page, the Early Withdrawal Penalty reads as follows:

360 days of dividends paid and accrued on the withdrawal for terms of greater than 3 years.

Thanks to DA reader, rockies, for this week’s USSFCU Forum post.

Bump Rate Certificates

USSFCU continues to offers three long-term Personal Bump Rate Share Certificates, which permit a “one–time option to bump it up to an even better rate during the term of your certificate.” Like the Share Certificates, the Bump Rates have tiered APYs, based on deposit levels of $60k+, $20k+, and $1k+, but these APYs are 10-21 bps lower than those of the Share Certificates.

Here’s the question you need to ask yourself – is the lower rate worth the bump option? While there is no definitive answer to that question, DA guest contributor, Charles Rechlin, has written an article that may help you decide for yourself. Here’s a teaser quote from Personal CD Investing: Step-Up and Step-Rate CDs:

Because I view a bump-up right as being of dubious value, my practice is to pass on
step-up CDs unless the initial rate offered is at, above, or at least reasonably competitive with the best rate available nationally for a CD of the same maturity with no step-up right.

Availability

Headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, United States Senate Federal Credit Union offers membership “via sponsorship or contribution.”

Easy Membership Requirement - Membership in the American Consumer Council, Virginia Chapter (VACC) has been added to the field of membership (FOM). Using the Promo Code “USSFCU” waives the $8 VACC Membership Fee.

Members of the United States Capitol Historical Society (USCHS) are also eligible to join USSFCU (minimum contribution of $50). Joining either organization must be done prior to completing the USSFCU application. More details are available on USSFCU’s website.

Employment Sponsorship - Current employees and retirees of more than 140 SEGs, including The United States Senate, The United States Supreme Court, The Government Accountability Office, Democratic National Committee, qualify for membership.

Family Sponsorship - Immediate family members (spouse, child, sibling, parent, grandparent, or grandchild, including step and adoptive relationships) of an existing USSFCU member or current employee of an SEG are eligible to join, as are household members of the same.

Joining USSFCU and/or opening a Share Certificate can be done online or at either of two District of Columbia branches or the Alexandria, Virginia branch. A secure application can also be requested by calling 800.374.2758 or sending an email to [email protected]

Credit Union Overview

United States Senate Federal Credit Union has an overall health grade of "A+" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas ratio of 2.10% (excellent), based on September 30, 2018 data. In the past year, USSFCU increased its total non-brokered deposits by $111.8 million, an excellent annual growth rate of 20.21%. Please refer to our financial overview of United States Senate Federal Credit Union (NCUA Charter # 624) for more details.

In 1935, seven individuals pooled their resources and obtained a charter for the United States Senate Employees Federal Credit Union. The original FOM was exclusive to U.S. Senate employees, but was expanded through mergers with the General Accountability Office Federal Credit Union, the DC Unemployment Federal Credit Union, and the American Trucking Association Federal Credit Union. The United States Senate Federal Credit Union rebrand occurred in 1990 in an effort to reflect the changing membership. USSFCU is currently the 15^th largest credit union in Virginia, with more than 38,500 members and assets in excess of $756 million.

How the Share Certificate Compares

When compared to the other similar length-of-term CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com that are nationally available, all of United States Senate Federal Credit Union's 60-month Share Certificate APYs currently rank in the top five, regardless of minimum deposits.

The above rates are accurate as of 1/3/2019.

To look for the best CD rates, both nationwide and state specific, please refer to our CD Rates Table page.

QED | Jan 4, 2019 | Comment #17

Absolutely KILLER jobs report number this morning! Remarkable. Completely unanticipated.

So I will not be doing this deal.

Robb | Jan 4, 2019 | Comment #18

Caught the Fed conference this morning. They sound cautious on rates going into 2019 even though employment has exceeded their objectives and inflation is close as well with wages soaring to the highest gain in nearly a decade in this morning's report. One can only wonder how long it's going to take them to normalize interest rates and that bloated balance sheet (if ever) which they've spoken about at length for many years now.

deeMatrix | Jan 4, 2019 | Comment #19

QED, your thinking now is this morning's KILLER jobs report readily justifies the two more 2019 interest rate increases outlined in the latest FED dot plot so it no longer makes any sense to seriously consider this 5 year deal at this 3.69% APY rate?

hank | Jan 5, 2019 | Comment #23

Yes , I wonder the same about qed's thinking. Seems to think that this means there is a high likelihood of further rate increases this year. It would be great if it were true but there's been a lot of false hope about rates over the last decade or so

QED | Jan 5, 2019 | Comment #25

I found the December jobs number encouraging; a good thing for our country. And it was not just December. This is from USA Today:

Payroll increases for October and November were revised up by a total 58,000. October’s was revised from 155,000 to 176,000 and November’s, from 237,000 to 274,000.

I take this information as indicator the economy is doing quite well, notwithstanding events during December which cast doubt. I don't focus on what the Fed does with short rates. An ongoing strong economy will positively impact longer CD rates and that is my focus.

All that said, I will be keeping a weather eye on February first, at 8:30 am ET, to learn if there is weakness after all in the January numbers. But for now things are looking pretty great.

Comments

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29 Comments.

Shamus the Tool | Jan 3, 2019 | Comment #1

So this is an almost-great offer. My question to Ken or anybody that wants to comment - there is a lot of $$$ tied up in the Ally promotion ($1000 bonus) that will be free to move come Jan 16th. Clearly that money has to go somewhere. Will the true, next great offer occur around that time? I know I'll be looking for a haven for the next few years come Jan 16th.

QED | Jan 3, 2019 | Comment #2

I casually and foolishly blew off the recent, great Connexus deal, confident higher CD rates lay just ahead following 2018's welcome demise and transition into a vibrant 2019. Well, here we are. The stock market slide continues apace, and that is not a good omen.

I will await tomorrow's employment report release; see where that indicator is pointing. But I do not want to err again. One should not allow the good to become enemy of the perfect. Perhaps, sadly, a CD opportunity at 3.69% APY must now be considered seriously.

4% RCA | Jan 3, 2019 | Comment #4

If you can do the 8 transactions per month and deposit $500 ea. month into a RCA, then you may consider Orion FCU 4% RCA up to $30K. You can join using "charity" option. One per SS#, so consider 1 for you, 1 for spouse equal to $60K at 4%

tck | Jan 3, 2019 | Comment #5

The problem with bonus checking accounts is that, unless specified, the rate is not guaranteed. Some may offer a 12mo guarantee at the very most, but usually not from what I've seen. And most people looking at 60mo CD's are looking for that long term guarantee.

tck | Jan 4, 2019 | Comment #16

To emphasize a bit further, not only do the rates often change on bonus checking accounts but also the “up to” amount. So banks have a few ways to play around. I had a Kasasa account a while back. A few months after opening my account, the CU cut the balance they were offering the high rate for in half. Needless to say, I emptied the account.

Rosedala | Jan 4, 2019 | Comment #14

4% is certainly enticing but...is it worth all that hustle and bustle for 31 points unless one has plenty spare time to engage in these energetic financial gymnastics! I too missed a good deal so I hastened to open with USSFCU AT 3.69%.

harry reid | Jan 3, 2019 | Comment #3

there was a lot of excitement on this site about that 3.75 percent cd on this site and disappointment that it was only for IRAs THis CD is only 6 basis points away from that cd which is negligible but doesn't seem to generate much excitement

111 | Jan 3, 2019 | Comment #6

Yes but that other CD was an add-on CD, which confers certain advantages to the holder.

larry | Jan 3, 2019 | Comment #8

That's exactly what I was thinking, a nice insurance policy.

Shamus the Tool | Jan 3, 2019 | Comment #12

Is that ad-on cd still available? Nationally or anything like it?

111 | Jan 4, 2019 | Comment #15

Seems to be. https://www.depositaccounts.com/banks/navy-fcu/offers/

Robb | Jan 3, 2019 | Comment #7

@harry reid...there are 3 significant differences...that Navy deal only has a 6 Month EWP versus 360 days for this one...secondly the Navy CD is an add-on CD where this one is not and lastly the Navy deal only requires a $50 minimum deposit and to get the top rate here it requires a 60k minimum deposit. The one benefit here on this deal is it's for both IRA and non-IRA money.

deplorable 1 | Jan 3, 2019 | Comment #9

The only way I'm going to tie up money at under 4% for 5 years is if it is a add-on CD with a low minimum. The banks want you to get worried and lock up your cash long term at low rates. I still have a 2.5% 5 yr. CD with 2 years left to go as a reminder of how long 5 years is.

highrate | Jan 3, 2019 | Comment #10

this could be the highest rate you'll see in a long time, who knows? At least one at the fed said yesterday rate hikes should be taken off the table for now, and the economy may be tanking in CHina which will affect us here. People at this site have been predicting higher rates for many years already, now they are in fact , a little up. I certainly hope they jump up more, but I am highly skeptical

tommy | Jan 3, 2019 | Comment #11

I felt the same way but today I opened 4 year cds at Able banking at 3.4 %. The memory of earning 1% is still too fresh.

mak | Jan 4, 2019 | Comment #13

I do a 5 year ladder and if you have enough funds you can have them coming due frequently....trying to time when you will get the highest rate is ridiculous in my opinion and in the meantime you're most likely waiting in a lower paying savings account waiting for the right time to pounce...:)
Kind of reminds me of putting in a buy order for a stock, as soon as it gets close you change the order and put in a lower bid and before you know it the stock is up and you missed it....lol

dollarsncents | Jan 4, 2019 | Comment #20

I totally agree, mak. I have taken the same approach to CDs for a couple of decades.

tommy | Jan 5, 2019 | Comment #21

FYI: Able Banking just lowered their cd rates on their website (by quite a bit). I am surprised.

tommy | Jan 5, 2019 | Comment #22

1 year cd went from 2.9% apy to 2.60% ; 2yr from 3.2 to 2.65; 3yr from 3.3 to 2.75 and 4 yr from 3.4 to 2.8!

mak | Jan 5, 2019 | Comment #24

What you forget to realize is this is the highest 5 year CD rate out there or close to it so you can't look at it like it's a regular rate that everyone is getting. The only time I buy shorter than 5 year CDs is if I have an empty spot in my ladder. I bought the 19 month 3.25% truwest credit union just to fill in a year with less CDs coming out plus it was a really good rate. You guys keep talking about the fed raising the short term rates but it's the long term rate you should want to go up, that is the rate the long term CDs follow. Btw, one of the reasons the stock market rallied hard today was because Powell said he would be patient in raising rates so if you want higher rates you better hope the stock market keeps going up...:)

hank | Jan 18, 2019 | Comment #26

can't believe they did away with this already. It only lasted a couple of weeks. I was going to open another one next week but now i'll have to think about it

Rosedala | Jan 18, 2019 | Comment #27

Hank, maybe the fact that you are already a member they'd consider granting you the same rate you opened with? Try appealing to them. I'm in the middle of the opening and can't get someone on the phone to complete the account. They must be totally swamped with calls and work! I hope I'll get the rate for which I applied.... :(

P.S. I found this address in case someone needs it: [email protected]

harry | Jan 18, 2019 | Comment #28

always in hope and christ ROSEDALA!

SYC | Feb 7, 2019 | Comment #29

The rates have dropped significantly to 3.11% APY ($60k+), 3.05% APY ($20k+), 2.98% APY ($1k+) from 3.53% APY ($60k+), 3.47% APY ($20k+), 3.41% APY ($1k+).

Bump Rate Certificates

Availability

Credit Union Overview

How the Share Certificate Compares

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