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Best CD accounts to open for May
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With elevated inflation continuing to impact the economy, it came as no surprise that the Federal Reserve decided this week to keep its benchmark rate paused at a 23-year high — meaning that consumer interest rates will stay high, at least for a little while longer. That decision is likely disappointing for borrowers, who will continue to face higher interest costs on everything from mortgage loans to credit cards. And, while paying more to borrow money isn’t ideal in any economy, it can be especially tough when higher grocery, gas and housing costs are impacting how far budgets can stretch.
But while Wednesday’s Fed decision isn’t good news for borrowers, it could benefit savers significantly right now. After all, today’s elevated rate environment means that interest rates aren’t just high on lending products; they’re high on savings products as well, from high-yield savings accounts to money market accounts and certificates of deposit (CDs). But if you want to maximize your interest earnings, CDs, in particular, are a good bet right now.
That’s because, when you open a CD, you lock in your rate until the account hits maturity, meaning that your earnings won’t be impacted by potential rate cuts during your CD term. And, you have lots of account options to choose from, too. Not only are rates elevated on short-term CDs, but they’re high on longer-term CDs, too. If you want to earn a top CD rate this month, though, it may help to start your search with the CD accounts outlined below.
Find your top CD account options online now.
Best CD accounts to open for May
If you’re trying to maximize your returns, these CDs could make sense to this May:
3-month CD accounts
- Shoreham Bank — 5.50% APY: This CD comes with a $1,000 minimum opening deposit requirement to earn the stated APY; an early withdrawal penalty will be charged if you need to access your money before the CD matures
- Banesco USA — 5.30% APY: This CD comes with a $1,500 minimum opening deposit requirement to earn the stated APY; the early withdrawal penalty for this account is equal to 90 days of interest
- Popular Direct — 5.30% APY: This CD comes with a $10,000 minimum opening deposit requirement to earn the stated APY; the early withdrawal penalty for this account is equal to 89 days of simple interest
- Dow Credit Union — 5.30% APY: This CD comes with a $500 minimum opening deposit requirement to earn the stated APY; the early withdrawal penalty for this account is equal to 45 days of interest
6-month CD accounts
- Shoreham Bank — 5.50% APY: This CD comes with a $1,000 minimum opening deposit requirement to earn the stated APY; an early withdrawal penalty will be charged if you need to access your money before the CD matures
- NASA FCU — 5.50% APY: This CD comes with a $10,000 minimum opening deposit requirement to earn the stated APY; the early withdrawal penalty for this account is equal to 182 days of interest
- Gateway First Bank (7-month CD) — 5.30% APY: This CD comes with a $500 minimum opening deposit requirement to earn the stated APY; an early withdrawal penalty will be charged if you need to access your money before the CD matures
- My Banking Direct — 5.50% APY: This CD comes with a $2,500 minimum opening deposit requirement to earn the stated APY; the early withdrawal penalty for this account is equal to 30 days of interest
1-year CD accounts
- Chadron FCU — 5.38% APY: This CD comes with a $500 minimum opening deposit requirement to earn the stated APY; an early withdrawal penalty will be charged if you need to access your money before the CD matures
- Box Butte Employees FCU — 5.37% APY: This CD comes with a $5,000 minimum opening deposit requirement to earn the stated APY; an early withdrawal penalty will be charged if you need to access your money before the CD matures
- CIBC Bank USA (13-month CD) — 5.30% APY: This CD comes with a $1,000 minimum opening deposit requirement to earn the stated APY; the early withdrawal penalty for this account is equal to 30 days of interest
- Rising Bank — 5.31% APY: This CD comes with a $1,000 minimum opening deposit requirement to earn the stated APY; the early withdrawal penalty for this account is equal to 90 days of interest
18-month CD accounts
- Credit Human — 5.30% APY: This CD comes with a $500 minimum opening deposit requirement to earn the stated APY; an early withdrawal penalty will be charged if you need to access your money before the CD matures
- Farmers Insurance FCU — 5.25% APY: This CD comes with a $1,000 minimum opening deposit requirement to earn the stated APY; an early withdrawal penalty will be charged if you need to access your money before the CD matures
- M.Y. Safra Bank — 5.10% APY: This CD comes with a $500 minimum opening deposit requirement to earn the stated APY; an early withdrawal penalty will be charged if you need to access your money before the CD matures
- First Internet Bank — 5.04% APY: This CD comes with a $1,000 minimum opening deposit requirement to earn the stated APY; the early withdrawal penalty for this account is equal to 180 days of interest
2-year CD accounts
- Credit Human — 5.30% APY: This CD comes with a $500 minimum opening deposit requirement to earn the stated APY; an early withdrawal penalty will be charged if you need to access your money before the CD matures
- M.Y. Safra Bank — 4.90% APY: This CD comes with a $500 minimum opening deposit requirement to earn the stated APY; an early withdrawal penalty will be charged if you need to access your money before the CD matures
- My eBanc — 4.85% APY: This CD comes with a $5,000 minimum opening deposit requirement to earn the stated APY; the early withdrawal penalty for this account is equal to 180 days of interest
- First Internet Bank — 4.85% APY: This CD comes with a $1,000 minimum opening deposit requirement to earn the stated APY; the early withdrawal penalty for this account is equal to 360 days of interest
3-year CD accounts
- Farmers Insurance FCU — 5.75% APY: This CD comes with a $1,000 minimum opening deposit requirement to earn the stated APY; an early withdrawal penalty will be charged if you need to access your money before the CD matures
- DollarSavingsDirect — 5.00% APY: This CD comes with a $1,000 minimum opening deposit requirement to earn the stated APY; the early withdrawal penalty for this account is equal to 180 days of interest
- Workers Credit Union — 5.00% APY: This CD comes with a $500 minimum opening deposit requirement to earn the stated APY; the early withdrawal penalty for this account is 50% of the dividends that would have been earned for the remaining term
- Superior Choice Credit Union — 4.85% APY: This CD comes with a $500 minimum opening deposit requirement to earn the stated APY; an early withdrawal penalty will be charged if you need to access your money before the CD matures
5-year CD accounts
- Credit Human — 4.70% APY: This CD comes with a $500 minimum opening deposit requirement to earn the stated APY; an early withdrawal penalty will be charged if you need to access your money before the CD matures
- First Internet Bank — 4.55% APY: This CD comes with a $1,000 minimum opening deposit requirement to earn the stated APY; the early withdrawal penalty for this account is equal to 360 days of interest
- First National Bank of America — 5.00% APY: This CD comes with a $1,000 minimum opening deposit requirement to earn the stated APY; the early withdrawal penalty for this account is equal to 540 days of interest
- Dow Credit Union — 4.50% APY: This CD comes with a $500 minimum opening deposit requirement to earn the stated APY; the early withdrawal penalty for this account is equal to 365 days of interest
Explore how today’s top CD rates could help you meet your savings goals.
The bottom line
While this week’s Fed decision wasn’t great for borrowers, savers can make moves to capitalize on what the still-high rate environment is offering. Right now, rates on CDs can easily surpass the 5% APY mark, so if you’re on the fence about opening one, this could be a good time to make your move. But before you do, just make sure that you can meet the CD term and deposit requirements. Otherwise, you could be on the hook for extra fees or early withdrawal penalties, negating some of the potential returns you would have earned on your account.
Israel said Sunday that the body of an Israeli-Moldovan rabbi who went missing in the United Arab Emirates has been found after he was killed in what it described as a “heinous antisemitic terror incident.”
The statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel “will act with all means to seek justice with the criminals responsible for his death.” There was no immediate comment from the UAE.
Zvi Kogan, 28, an ultra-Orthodox rabbi who went missing on Thursday, ran a Kosher grocery store in the futuristic city of Dubai, where Israelis have flocked for commerce and tourism since the two countries forged diplomatic ties in the 2020 Abraham Accords.
Jon Gambrell / AP
The agreement has held through more than a year of soaring regional tensions unleashed by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack into southern Israel. But Israel’s devastating retaliatory offensive in Gaza and its invasion of Lebanon, after months of fighting with the Hezbollah militant group, have stoked anger among Emiratis, Arab nationals and others living in the UAE.
Iran, which supports Hamas and Hezbollah, has also been threatening to retaliate against Israel after a wave of airstrikes Israel carried out in October in response to an Iranian ballistic missile attack.
The Emirati government did not respond to a request for comment.
Early Sunday, the UAE’s state-run WAM news agency acknowledged Kogan’s disappearance but pointedly did not acknowledge he held Israeli citizenship, referring to him only as being Moldovan. The Emirati Interior Ministry described Kogan as being “missing and out of contact.”
“Specialized authorities immediately began search and investigation operations upon receiving the report,” the Interior Ministry said.
Netanyahu told a regular Cabinet meeting later Sunday that he was “deeply shocked” by Kogan’s disappearance and death. He said he appreciated the cooperation of the UAE in the investigation and said that ties between the two countries would continue to be strengthened.
Israel’s largely ceremonial president, Isaac Herzog, condemned the killing and thanked Emirati authorities for “their swift action.” He said he trusts they “will work tirelessly to bring the perpetrators to justice.”
Kogan was an emissary of the Chabad Lubavitch movement, a prominent and highly observant branch of ultra-Orthodox Judaism based in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood in New York City. It said he was last seen in Dubai. The UAE has a burgeoning Jewish community, with synagogues and businesses catering to kosher diners.
The Rimon Market, a Kosher grocery store that Kogan managed on Dubai’s busy Al Wasl Road, was shut down Sunday. As the wars have roiled the region, the store has been the target of online protests by supporters of the Palestinians. Mezuzahs on the front and the back doors of the market appeared to have been ripped off when an Associated Press journalist stopped by on Sunday.
Kogan’s wife, Rivky, is a U.S. citizen who lived with him in the UAE. She is the niece of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, who was killed in the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
The UAE is an autocratic federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula and is also home to Abu Dhabi. Local Jewish officials in the UAE declined to comment.
While the Israeli statement did not mention Iran, Iranian intelligence services have carried out past kidnappings in the UAE.
Western officials believe Iran runs intelligence operations in the UAE and keeps tabs on the hundreds of thousands of Iranians living across the country.
Iran is suspected of kidnapping and later killing British Iranian national Abbas Yazdi in Dubai in 2013, though Tehran has denied involvement. Iran also kidnapped Iranian German national Jamshid Sharmahd in 2020 from Dubai, taking him back to Tehran, where he was executed in October.
Hyundai and Kia are recalling more than 208,000 electric vehicles to fix a problem that can cause the loss of drive power, increasing the risk of a crash.
The recall covers more than 145,000 Hyundai and Genesis including some IONIQ 5 and IONIQ 6 EVs along with Genesis GV60, Genesis GV70 and Genesis G80 models.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said the vehicles’ transistors in a charging control unit may get damaged and stop charging the 12-volt battery, “which can result in a loss of drive power.”
In the Kia recall, nearly 63,000 EV6 vehicles from 2022 through 2024 are impacted.
Car dealers will inspect and replace the control unit and a fuse if needed, as well as update software. Owners whose vehicles were recalled earlier this year to fix the same problem will have to visit their dealer again.
Owners will be notified by letter in December and January.
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