Udpated. Navy Federal Credit Union is the nation’s largest credit union, but is primary limited to those with a military relationship. However, their membership now includes veterans and family members of veterans. They just released a few new special offers for December 2019:
- 37-Month IRA/ESA Certificate at 3.00% APY. $50 minimum. Add-on deposits are allowed at any time, up to $150,000. IRA/ESA only.
- $50 New IRA Bonus. Deposit $50 or more to your first IRA within 45 days of account opening and get a $50 bonus.
- EasyStart Certificate at 3.50% APY. Open with as little as $50. Make additional deposits anytime (up to $3,000). 12-month term. Certificate owner(s) age 18 and older must have Direct Deposit of Net Pay or payroll allotment and a Navy Federal checking account within 90 days of the certificate issue date.
If you wanted a conservative investment for your IRA, compare this NCUA-insured certificate at 3% against a 3-year US Treasury that is only yielding 1.62% as of this writing. You can also just open with $50 and add more each month.
This 3-month certificate rate would be a top rate in my Best Interest Rates on Cash – December 2019 post. Too bad it is not available outside of an IRA/ESA.
Navy Federal Credit Union has solid bank and loan products, including checking accounts with ATM rebates, competitive mortgage rates, and limited-time 0% balance transfer promotions. Readers have commented on their excellent customer service and the fact that they often keep and service the mortgages and other loans they originate.
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Jonathan….I was about half way through their application process when I decided to check their reviews….which range from somewhat mixed to somewhat terrible especially on Yelp.
And then when I got down to their terms and conditions I noticed that an e-Checking account carries a $5/month fee which seems to be required to open a CD.
Looking beyond the 3.5% rate which sure looks attractive right now do you think the whole
package is really worth the effort?
Any predictions for the July 30th Fed meeting? It would seem with 224,000 new jobs this month there is no logical reason for another cut. But as soon as that number came out, Mass Media changed the entire narrative to an “insurance rate cut”. In my whole life I never heard of the Fed making an “insurance rate cut.
Any thoughts on which way they will go?
I don’t use NavyFed as my primary checking account, so I don’t really have a lot of customer service interactions with them. For my purposes, they have been fine.
I have the Free EveryDay Checking. No monthly fees, no minimum balance. No ATM rebates, but again I don’t use the ATM card. Just be sure to have some sort of activity (transfer in, out) once a year to avoid having a dormant account.
I’ve seen some 5 year Fixed Annuities at 4%. And they allow you to take some withdrawals if you want to.
“This 3-month certificate rate would be a top rate”
Which 3 month certificate? Do you mean the 37 month one?
Looks like the easy start CD is still yielding 3.5% APY despite the latest FED move.
I’m looking to open one of these for my son. Do you know what the typical lag time is between FED rate cuts and banks and CU’s dropping their APYs on savings products?