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3-Year CD Rates
3-Year CD rates are usually higher than 2-year CD rates, but lower than 4-year CD rates and are considered a mid- to long-term CD in terms of maturity period.
Certificates of deposit, or CDs, are time deposits bought by an individual in order to earn an established rate of return within a fixed time period. The FDIC and NCUA have guidelines in place for how the banks and credit unions they insure, respectively, can structure and sell CDs.
3-Year CD Rate History – Average APY (%) Rate Trend over Time
Balance Requirements
Most bank CDs have minimum initial deposit or minimum balance requirements – share certificates offered by credit unions usually have higher minimums than certificates offered by banks. Most CDs have no maximum limit set for the amount you are able to deposit. As an investment strategy, you may want to open a CD in order to hedge a position you may have in another area of the market.
Long-Term CD Inflation Risk
Investing in CDs over the long haul means a greater susceptibility to risk posed by inflation. Because inflation rates can fluctuate a lot during a 3 year time span, it is important to pay attention to economic trends when considering opening a CD for this long. For example, the inflation rate in 2009 was 2.7%, but in 2011 rose to 3.0%. If you opened a 3-year CD with a 2.8% interest rate in 2009 to beat inflation, you would be losing purchasing power in 2011, the final year of the life of the CD. To avoid losing purchasing power to inflation, some investors elect to terminate CDs early.
Closing a CD
Closing a CD early will usually result in penalties levied by the issuing financial institution, and could seriously eat into any interest earned (or in some cases the principal itself). Understanding how to calculate the cost benefit of closing out an underperforming CD is helpful to take advantage of prevailing interest rates. A CD calculator is available on DepositAccounts to help you do just that. An early withdrawal penalty is tax deductible, so if you are stuck with a lower interest rate (compared to the wider market), you may ultimately recoup a sizeable percentage of the penalty. Common examples of 3-Year CDs include a 36 Month Step Up Certificate and a 36 Month Relationship CD, which you will find in the rate table above.