With just over one week until the Federal Reserve’s last meeting of the year, CD and savings rates are still rising across the board.
As the Fed’s next decision looms, not only are experts predicting another rate hike, but the Fed Chairman himself has signaled that rates will need to go higher to tame inflation.
“We will stay the course until the job is done,” Chairman Jerome Powell said in a speech last week.
But the results of this year’s high interest rates, designed to tame runaway inflation, so far lag behind the Fed’s rate decisions. Despite a lower Consumer Price Index last month, “It will take substantially more evidence to give comfort that inflation is actually declining,” Powell said. “By any standard, inflation remains much too high.”
As a result, you may still feel the pinch of high prices in your wallet. One tool you still have against rising prices today is improved interest rates on savings accounts. Even if you can only set aside a few bucks in a CD or high-yield savings account, you’ll be able to take advantage of rising rates and prepare for the future.
Here are the best CD and savings rates this week, what to expect from the upcoming Fed meeting, and expert advice for boosting your savings today.
How NextAdvisor Analyzes CD and Savings Rates
We compare three different averages in our average CD and savings rate analysis. First, we review national deposit rates from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and Bankrate’s national index of deposit accounts based on a weekly survey (like NextAdvisor, Bankrate is owned by Red Ventures). We also calculate the current average rate of each bank on our list of best CD rates and best savings rates — you can find more about how we choose the banks included in our lists on those pages.
The differences between national average savings rates and NextAdvisor’s analysis of interest rates is largely due to the much higher APYs that online banks pay.
National surveys from the FDIC and Bankrate include many different types of financial institutions, including large national banks that charge as little as 0.01% APY. Our lists, on the other hand, is made up of online or hybrid banks with fewer overhead costs, which allows them to pass on savings in the form of interest to customers.
What Are the Best Savings Rates This Week?
As savings rates go up, more high-yield accounts are inching closer to 4% APY.
National surveys from both Bankrate and the FDIC remained stagnant — Bankrate showing average savings rates at 0.19% and the FDIC at 0.24% APY. However, these national averages also include traditional savings accounts, which usually have lower interest rates.
The average of high-yield savings accounts we track at NextAdvisor, meanwhile, moved from 3.18% to 3.27%, after a few significant rate hikes and a new top rate. Here’s a list of the best high-yield savings account rates this week:
What Are the Best CD Rates This Week?
CD rates went up again this week too, but not by much.
Bankrate’s weekly national rate survey shows that one-year CDs moved up from 1.20% to 1.22% and three-year CDs remained the same at 1.02%. Five-year CDs made the biggest jump, from 0.98% to 1.07%.
But CD rates that we track at NextAdvisor are much higher, despite only a small rate increase this week for all terms. One-year CDs moved from 4.14% to 4.20%, while three- and five-year CDs remained the same at 3.78% and 4.05% this week.
Here are the best CD rates this week by term:
1-Year
- CFG Bank 4.65% APY
- Bread Savings: 4.50%
- Live Oak Bank: 4.50% APY
3-Year
- CFG Bank: 4.60% APY
- Bread Savings: 4.50% APY
- Sallie Mae: 4.50% APY
5-Year
- Bread Savings: 4.75% APY
- CFG Bank: 4.60% APY
- Sallie Mae: 4.55%…
Read More: The Best Savings and CD Rates Could Rise Even Higher After Next Week’s Fed