Best CD Rates In California For May 2024

Navy Federal Credit Union’s EasyStart Certificates offer a competitive APY—up to 4.70%—for terms ranging from six to 24 months. With a low minimum opening deposit of $50, these certificates are perfect for building your savings from scratch. While most CDs only allow a single initial deposit, you can add money to your EasyStart Certificate at any time. You can even set up recurring automatic deposits.

There’s also the 12-month Navy Federal Credit Union Special EasyStart Certificate that earns 5.30% APY, although it has a maximum deposit cap of $3,000 and requires a checking account that receives recurring direct deposits. Standard certificates have no maximum deposit cap, and the 12-, 18- and 24-month certificates earn competitive rates.

You must become a Navy Federal Credit Union member to open an account. To be eligible, you must be a member of the armed forces, a veteran, a family member of a current or retired service member or a Department of Defense employee.

Read our full Navy Federal Credit Union Review.

Interest compounds daily and is credited monthly. When your CD matures, you have a 21-day grace period, during which you can make changes to your account. Otherwise, it will renew automatically. Withdrawals of your principal deposit before the maturity date are subject to a penalty, which varies by term.

PenFed Credit Union offers money market certificates with terms ranging from six months to seven years. A “certificate” is essentially a CD offered by a credit union. The credit union’s mid-length certificates offer the highest rates. Members can change their maturity option at any time prior to maturity, adding some flexibility to this account.

Dividends on certificates are compounded daily for terms greater than six months, while certificates with terms shorter than six months earn dividends on a simple interest basis. Because this account is offered by a credit union, you must be a member in order to open a certificate. Fortunately, most Americans can easily qualify for a PedFed account.

Compounding schedule

The yields earned on credit union accounts are referred to as dividends rather than interest. Dividends on six-month certificates are earned on a simple (not compound) interest basis and are paid when the certificate matures. Dividends on all other CDs are compounded daily and credited monthly.

Early withdrawal penalties

Early withdrawal penalties vary by term.

Maturity options

With PenFed, you choose your maturity option when you open your certificate and can change it anytime prior to maturity. This gives you some flexibility, and extra time, to decide what you’d like to do with the funds in your account when it matures. You can transfer the funds into another PenFed account, roll it into a new certificate, get a mailed check or transfer it via ACH.

PenFed certificates have significantly lower rates across the maturity spectrum than others. In addition, their early withdrawal penalties are pretty onerous compared to what is standard. They’re about the most severe I have heard.

—Jill Fopiano, CEO at O’Brien Wealth Partners

CitiBank’s fixed-rate CDs offer rates from 0.05% to 4.75% for terms ranging from three months to five years. Promotional CDs include a seven-month CD (0.05% APY), 15-month CD (2.00% to 3.00% APY) and 18-month CD (2.00% APY). The minimum deposit requirement starts at $500.

The bank’s other CD terms don’t earn very competitive rates, especially those below nine months. It’s easy to open a CD online, and you can manage your account on the go with the Citibank mobile app.

Read our full Citibank Review.

Interest is paid either monthly or at maturity, depending on the term length. There is a 90-day simple interest penalty for CD terms of one year or less and a 180-day simple interest penalty for CD terms longer than one year. A seven-day grace period begins the day after the maturity date. If no action is taken on the account within those seven days, the CD automatically renews for the same period of time as the original term.

Schwab CD OneSource isn’t a specific CD account—instead, it’s a CD marketplace offered by the brokerage firm Charles Schwab. That means any CD purchased through Schwab OneSource is a brokered CD. Customers can shop for and compare various brokered CDs through the online marketplace before making a purchase.

Rather than compounding, interest on a brokered CD is paid out to customers regularly through the CD’s term. Deposits still receive FDIC insurance as long as the CDs are issued to the broker from an FDIC-insured bank. Investors can also trade or sell brokered CDs before maturity on the secondary market without incurring a penalty.

A benefit of brokered CDs like those offered through Schwab OneSource is competitive interest rates. APYs available from Schwab OneSource are currently as high as 5.46%.

You must be a Charles Schwab customer to open a CD, and these accounts require a $1,000 minimum deposit.

Interest on Schwab OneSource CDs doesn’t compound. Instead, it’s paid out in intervals throughout the CD’s term. Customers can sell CDs on the secondary market without penalty before maturity, though it’s possible they can lose value. And like bank CDs, you can withdraw your full principal balance at maturity.

Spectrum Credit Union CDs offer APYs from 3.75% to 5.00% for terms ranging from three months to five years. To open an account, you must become a Spectrum Credit Union member and deposit $25 into a Primary Share Savings account. Once you’re a member, you can open a share certificate account with a $500 minimum deposit.

Membership is open to employers and members of more than 2,000 sponsor organizations. You can also become a member by joining the Financial Fitness Association for $8 per year. This makes it easier to join than many other credit unions, but you do have to go through the membership process to open a CD.

Dividends are compounded daily and credited to your account monthly. Rates are not guaranteed and can change without notice. An early withdrawal penalty applies for all certificates.