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Is Your Credit Union a Part of the Shared Branch Network?Happy Thanksgiving!
POSTED ON BY Ken Tumin
I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. Thanks for all of your support this year. DA member Pearlbrown said it well in the forum:
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family and to all in our deal-seeking community. May this holiday season bring all of us health and peace and prosperity and the time to enjoy them with our loved ones.
I thought it would be useful and interesting to look back at some of the bank deals this year that we can be thankful for. The bank deals may not compare to the good old days when it was easy to get 5% on savings accounts and 6% on CDs, but we should remember that things this year could have been worse. Here are a few of this year's bank deals that we can be thankful for (and they’re still active as of 11/27/2014):
- Chartway Federal Credit Union has been offering very competitive web certificates. The best ones are 2.52% APY for a 5-year term and a 1.51% APY for an 18-month term. Minimum deposit is $10,000. Chartway makes it easy for anyone to join (see review).
- Connexus Credit Union has been offering a 1-year step-up CD with a blended APY of 1.37%. Minimum deposit is $2,500. This CD allows for one penalty-free early withdrawal. Connexus makes it easy for anyone to join (see review).
- Service Credit Union has a Black Friday CD special with a 2.00% APY for a 15-month term. Minimum deposit is $1,000. The special is scheduled to end on the 28th. Service Credit Union’s membership has restrictions (see review).
- Institution for Savings Bank has a 20-month CD with a 2.00% APY. Minimum deposit is $500. This offer is only available in the bank’s market area which is around northern Massachusetts (see review).
I know some of these deals have issues, but let's focus on the positives today.
What deposit account deals were you thankful for this year?
Dealz so far (we have another month plus to go, after all) in 2014?
I liked, and I REALLY miss, the AFCU deal. You talk about "step up" deals. Their deal was a "step out" deal . . a CD with a "Get out of jail free" feature and a decent rate of interest. There are too few such deals around today, IMO. That AFCU thing was a super opportunity for savers. I put in as much money as I could back at that time, but it was not a lot. Now, with one of my CDs having matured, I have more dough. But the deal is gone. :-(
For now you may have learned ways to keep your reportable income below the 400% FPL to qualify for the subsidy. Congratulations! But here is the kicker. What is going to be your plan when you draw social security benefits and you start having to take mandatory distributions from your IRA at age 70-1/2? Assuming this might be the case for you, the RMD's, social security benefits, pensions, if any, and other remaining income will probably put you in the reportable income category of having to pay higher than normal Part B and Part D medicare premiums. So it looks to me, you might as well get all you can. If you can get the subsidies now, then do it because later on they are going to get it back and maybe even more from the higher Medicare premiums. I guess these higher Medicare premiums could even start hitting one beginning at age 65 if one can no longer figure out a way to keep their reportable income low enough to dodge the higher Medicare premiums.
In fact, I hope it gets repealed and prior low rates come back.
Keeping my income low is fairly easy for me. At least in any single year or 2 out of 3. But I would wager there will be something thrown in there regarding assets before long.
Our president wont want us to have assets and get subsidies for the long term.
I havent given much thought about what happens if I make it to age 70. (18+ years from now) And I dont know the first thing about medicare.
And its a one time deal.
Just seems like such a pain to be moving it in 6 months.
Because their regular rates are not competitive.
I have it linked to another account so it is just an ACH to move $ out.