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How to make $2,500 with a CD right now
Interest rates are high these days. Those high rates mean it’s possible to earn a strong return on deposit accounts. A popular option among these is a certificate of deposit (CD). With CDs, you commit to leaving your money in the account through its entire term. In exchange, the financial institution agrees to pay you a meaningful interest rate – one that’s typically higher than you can expect from savings accounts.
But, what if you want to make $2,500 by investing in a CD? How would you go about doing so? There are several options to choose from, with varying deposits and terms to choose from.
Compare some of the top-paying CDs on the market today.
How to make $2,500 with a CD right now
If you plan on making $2,500 with a CD, you may be best served by using an online bank. Today’s leading CDs offer rates ranging from 4% to over 5%. So, the first thing you should do if you want to earn $2,500 on your CD is compare your options and choose one with a high yield. Here’s are a few ways you can earn $2,500 in interest on leading CDs:
Invest $10,200 into a 5-year CD
One of today’s top 5-year CDs is offered by First Internet Bank of Indiana. This account pays a 4.50% APY. And, you can earn $2,500 in interest by depositing $10,200 into it. In fact, if you do so, you’ll earn $2,511.06 in interest over your 5-year term. That would bring your total account value to $12,711.06 upon the account’s maturity.
You can find more leading 5-year CDs at SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union and Quontic Bank. Their accounts pay 4.35% and 4.30% APYs, respectively. Here’s what you could earn on $10,200 in five years at those rates:
- SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union: You’ll earn $2,420.09 in interest for a total balance of $12,620.09 after five years.
- Quontic Bank: You’ll earn $2,398.88 in interest for a total balance of $12,589.88 after five years.
Invest in a CD to earn a $2,500 return now.
Invest $17,500 into a 3-year CD
You can find a 4.61% 3-year CD rate at First Internet Bank of Indiana right now. And, at that rate, you could earn $2,500 by depositing $17,500 into the account. In doing so, you would generate $2,533.54 in interest over three years for a total balance of $20,033.54 upon the account’s maturity.
Some other compelling options include Popular Direct and Quontic Bank, which pay 4.50% and 4.40%, respectively on their 3-year CDs. Here’s what you could earn on a $17,500 deposit into these accounts:
- Popular Direct: You would earn $2,470.41 in interest after three years for a total balance of $19,970.41 upon the account’s maturity.
- Quontic Bank: You would earn $2,413.13 in interest after three years for a total balance of $19,913.13 upon the account’s maturity.
Invest $47,000 into a 1-year CD
You could also earn $2,500 on a CD in a single year if you deposit $47,000 with CIBC Bank USA. Their 1-year CD currently pays a 5.36% APY. At that rate, you would earn $2,519.20 in interest over the course of a year on your deposit, for a total balance of $49,519.20 upon maturity.
Some other strong one-year CD offers come from Bask Bank and First Internet Bank of Indiana. Those accounts currently offer 5.30% and 5.26% APYs, respectively. Here’s what you could earn with each of these accounts by depositing $47,000 into them:
- Bask Bank: You would earn $2,491.00 in interest after one year for a total balance of $49,491.00 upon the account’s maturity.
- First Internet Bank of Indiana: You would earn $2,472.20 in interest after one year for a total balance of $49,472.20 upon the account’s maturity.
Invest $95,000 into a 6-month CD
You could earn $2,500 on a 6-month CD if you deposit $95,000 with Bask Bank at 5.35%. At that rate, you would earn $2,508.14 in interest for a total balance upon maturity of $97,508.14.
America First Credit Union also offers a compelling rate right now. If you deposited $95,000 into a 6-month CD with America First Credit Union at 5.25%, you would earn $2,461.85, for a total account balance upon maturity of $97,461.85.
Take advantage of these strong rates while they’re still here.
The bottom line
There are multiple ways to earn $2,500 on a CD in today’s high interest environment. You could deposit $10,200 into a 5-year CD, $17,500 into a 3-year CD, $47,000 into a 1-year CD or $95,000 into a 6-month CD. But those aren’t the only ways to earn hundreds or even thousands of dollars on a CD now. Start crunching the numbers and lock in a high CD rate here now.
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Senate elections live results map for 2024
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What one stock market gauge is predicting about the presidential race
If history is any guide, one stock market gauge suggests that Vice President Kamala Harris will defeat former President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential race.
In all but two elections since 1944, the party in the White House has retained power when the U.S. stock market advances before Election Day, or the period between the end of July and Halloween, according to an election predictor devised by Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research, based out of Allentown, Pennsylvania.
In 2020, the S&P 500 fell 0.04% from July 31 to October 31, with then-President Donald Trump losing the election to President Joe Biden. While the outcome in the 2024 election is not yet known, the S&P 500 rose 3.3% during that three-month span this year.
To be sure, many other factors can influence a presidential race, and Wall Street is no stranger to making wrong predictions, ranging from the direction of the stock market to election outcomes. And betting markets that allow average investors to place wagers on the election outcome have in recent weeks favored Trump.
“You can say there is sort of an overlap — the market usually goes up on an annual basis and voters tend to give the incumbent the benefit of the doubt, so it makes sense if the market goes up most of the time and the incumbent gets re-elected most of the time,” Stovall told CBS MoneyWatch.
Even more reliable are periods when the stock market falls during the period from July 31 to October 31, in which case the incumbent has been replaced 89% of the time. That predictor failed only once, in 1956, according to Stovall, pointing to the year when incumbent President Dwight Eisenhower defeated Adlai Stevenson, despite the S&P 500 tumbling 7.7% in the period ahead of the election.
Still, Stovall notes a mathematician might scoff at basing a model on such a limited sample, in this case the 21 presidential elections held in the U.S. since World War II.
“Is this really statistically significant? I think the answer is no, but it makes for interesting copy,” the strategist said. “You can have data tell whatever story you want.”
Limited or not, Stovall is sticking with his presidential predictor.
“I believe we will see a Harris victory ultimately, because I’m a very big believer in history and rules-based investing,” Stovall told CBS News.
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