Saturday, September 10, 2011

Ally Bank's Raise Your Rate CDs

I recently opened a "Raise Your Rate CD" at Ally bank. The difference between this and a regular Certificate of Deposit is that if rates go up during the CD term, you are allowed to have Ally adjust the interest rate to the current rate. They have 2- and 4-year Ally Bank Raise Your Rate CD available. The 2-year Raise Your Rate CD allows 1 such increase during its term, and the 4-year CD allows 2 increases during its term.

The biggest risk of any long-term CD is the chance that interest rates will rise and that you've already committed to a lower rate until the CD matures. The "Raise Your Rate" feature is a way for savvy depositors to mitigate this risk. I have previously written about opening a 5-year CD at Ally Bank in my "Pay the Early Withdrawal Penalty" post. This Raise Your Rate CD is the second CD that I've opened at Ally Bank.

All CDs from Ally Bank carry an early withdrawal penalty equal to 60-days of interest, except for the Ally Bank No Penalty 11 Month CD. I believe that it is not a good idea to open a CD with a term of 9 months or less at Ally Bank. The reason for this is based on simple math, and explained in my post: Don't Open a Short-Term CD at Ally Bank.

Interest rates are pretty low these days. But, my current plan is to ask Ally Bank for a rate adjustment if the rate goes up by a percent or so above the current rate.

DC

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3 comments:

Super Saver said...

I still can't believe interest rates are so low. Inflation is happening despite the Fed actions to keep interest rates low.

pfstock said...

Only a few years ago, these CD rates were in the 4-5% range. I opened the 4-year CD last month when the interest rate was at 1.90% APY. The current rate has already dropped to 1.75% APY. I wanted to lock in something before the interest rate dropped even more.

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