Historical CD Rates

**slimcustomer** · 06-02-2006, 11:08 PM

Re: Historical CD Rates

If you keep your eyes open, I'm sure there will be a number of 10% cds available throughout the year like there were last year and like there are right now. Unfortunately many of these deals have restrictions and conditions, but if you are a persistent rate hunter, you should be able to get most of your money at 7%+ with a few 10% cds thrown in for good measure.

**WellManicuredMan** · 06-03-2006, 10:08 PM

Re: Historical CD Rates

Originally posted by slimcustomer

If you keep your eyes open, I'm sure there will be a number of 10% cds available throughout the year like there were last year and like there are right now. Unfortunately many of these deals have restrictions and conditions, but if you are a persistent rate hunter, you should be able to get most of your money at 7%+ with a few 10% cds thrown in for good measure.

It's the restrictions that are the problem. Bankrate does not list any CDs with the rates you mentioned. So I assume you mean local offers that can't be purchased unless you live in certain areas.

**slimcustomer** · 06-04-2006, 07:46 PM

Re: Historical CD Rates

Originally posted by WellManicuredMan

It's the restrictions that are the problem. Bankrate does not list any CDs with the rates you mentioned. So I assume you mean local offers that can't be purchased unless you live in certain areas.

Bankrate doesn't neccesarily list the the best rates available, they just list the best of what they choose to list on their site. There are plenty of credit unions that anyone, no matter where they live, can join that have higher rates than what is listed there. Already this year there have been 7% and 8% certificates that anyone could have gotten in on had they been aware of them. Right now most of the 7%+ offerings do have various restrictions, but there are plenty of unrestricted 6% offers available. I'm sure we'll see more high rate specials throughout the year.

**WellManicuredMan** · 06-04-2006, 07:51 PM

Re: Historical CD Rates

Originally posted by slimcustomer

Bankrate doesn't neccesarily list the the best rates available, they just list the best of what they choose to list on their site. There are plenty of credit unions that anyone, no matter where they live, can join that have higher rates than what is listed there. Already this year there have been 7% and 8% certificates that anyone could have gotten in on had they been aware of them. Right now most of the 7%+ offerings do have various restrictions, but there are plenty of unrestricted 6% offers available. I'm sure we'll see more high rate specials throughout the year.

Thanks for the info! I will have to be sure to keep my eyes open.

I am still interested in hearing about anyone here that may have purchased CDs back in the early 80's when you could find 15% CDs and sometimes better. That is crazy.

**CRFSaver** · 06-04-2006, 11:10 PM

Re: Historical CD Rates

My father bought CD's for my sister and I with coupons of 11%. Mind you inflation was so high back then it at through most of your return.

**ken1706** · 06-05-2006, 10:51 AM

Re: Historical CD Rates

In the early 80's my parents purchased a 10-year CD at 15.9% APY. The bank actually made a mistake in their advertising. I'm not sure if it was suppose to be a shorter term or a lower APY, but they did honor the ad. Unfortunately, my parents didn't have a lot to invest back then.

It's probably good that we don't repeat that time. Inflation has to get pretty bad to force rates to that level.

**Ima saver** · 06-05-2006, 12:45 PM

Re: Historical CD Rates

I worked for a small savings and loan place, back in the late 70's and early 80's! Yes, we had to offer 16% cd rates in order to compete. It was a terrible time. Home loans were for 9%, so we were losing money. We did not make any loans that year. I did not have the money for cd's back then, but my friend's parents were making a fortune!

**WellManicuredMan** · 06-05-2006, 03:35 PM

Re: Historical CD Rates

Good stuff, thanks for the replys

Speaking of inflation, the stock market was NOT happy today.

**abowers** · 06-06-2006, 02:44 PM

Re: Historical CD Rates

"high" rates in my lifetime, when I had money available to put in a CD, was when I got somewhere around 6.5% from Key Bank toward the end of High School.

**pyotr** · 06-08-2006, 07:57 PM

Re: Historical CD Rates

When I was in college back in mid-80s I had about $12k in a CD that was yielding over 10% - those were good times.

**disneysteve** · 06-12-2006, 05:51 PM

Re: Historical CD Rates

You need to look at those historic rates in the proper context. Yes, CDs were paying 15%, but inflation was in the double digits also, so your real rate of return wasn't much different than investing at 6% today with a 3% inflation rate. Also, income tax rates were much higher. I think 50% was the top rate. It might have been higher than that - I don't remember exactly. It was a time of deregulation that allowed the creation of all types of new investment products that didn't previously exist. It was also in the midst of Reagan's economic plans known as Reaganomics. Plus, it was the beginning of the end of the savings and loans disasters that saw many institutions fail.

So while 15% for a CD sounds great, it wasn't that simple.

**WellManicuredMan** · 06-12-2006, 07:57 PM

Re: Historical CD Rates

Originally posted by disneysteve

You need to look at those historic rates in the proper context. Yes, CDs were paying 15%, but inflation was in the double digits also, so your real rate of return wasn't much different than investing at 6% today with a 3% inflation rate. Also, income tax rates were much higher. I think 50% was the top rate. It might have been higher than that - I don't remember exactly. It was a time of deregulation that allowed the creation of all types of new investment products that didn't previously exist. It was also in the midst of Reagan's economic plans known as Reaganomics. Plus, it was the beginning of the end of the savings and loans disasters that saw many institutions fail.

So while 15% for a CD sounds great, it wasn't that simple.

Yes, I understand that inflation would negate the high rates CDs had in the past. But high inflation doesn't last forever and you could lock in a high CD rate for a fairly long period of time. Say a 10 year CD (which you can do at some banks today). Inflation probably wouldn't be as high in a few years after the Fed raised rates so high but your 10 year CD is guaranteed to give you a very high rate still that (in the case of say 15%) would easily beat the S&P 500.

Historical CD Rates