Jumbo certificates of deposit (CDs) usually require a large amount of money (think $100,000) and can sometimes offer even higher interest rates than regular CDs, but usually only within a given bank. However, banks and credit unions often compete more for the best CD rates for regular, non-jumbo CDs, and so—as you’ll see below—the highest annual percentage yields (APYs) offered on non-jumbo CDs are often higher than those of most jumbo CDs.
Each week, we review more than 150 nationally available banks and credit unions to find the best jumbo CD rates with minimum deposits of $50,000 or more. We track APYs daily but re-evaluate the list weekly, and all accounts that make our list are insured by either the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA).
Here are the best jumbo CD rates, plus non-jumbo CD rates for the same term, as of September 9, 2020.
APYs are changing rapidly amid widespread uncertainty about the economy and financial markets. The Balance is monitoring rates and updating them accordingly.
Best Jumbo CD Rates
| Term | Bank or Credit Union | APY | Minimum Deposit | Early Withdrawal Penalty |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JUMBO 3 Months (2–4 months included) | Michigan State University Federal Credit Union (3–5 months) | 0.45% | $100,000 | 3 months of interest |
| 3 Months (2–4 months included) | Chevron Federal Credit Union and Spectrum Federal Credit Union (3-month, tied) | 0.80% | $500 | 3 months of interest |
| JUMBO 6 Months (5–9 months included) | Consumers Credit Union (9-month) | 0.70% | $100,000 | 2 months of interest |
| 6 Months (5–9 months included) | CommunityWide Federal Credit Union (6-month) | 1.00% | $1,000 | Complex formula; exercise caution |
| JUMBO 1 Year (10–14 months included) | Affinity Federal Credit Union (14-month) | 0.95% | $100,000 | 6 months of interest |
| 1 Year (10–14 months included) | MAC Federal Credit Union (12-month) | 1.10% | $1,000 | 1 month of interest |
| JUMBO 18 Months (15–20 months included) | Consumers Credit Union (20-month) | 1.10% | $100,000 | 4 months of interest |
| 18 Months (15–20 months included) | Pen Air Federal Credit Union (18-month) | 1.05% | $500 | 6 months of interest |
| JUMBO 2 Years (21–29 months included) | California Coast Credit Union (24-month) | 1.05% | $50,000 | 6 months of interest |
| 2 Years (21–29 months included) | MAC Federal Credit Union (24-month) | 1.25% | $1,000 | 3 months of interest |
| JUMBO 3 Years (30–41 months included) | Financial Partners Credit Union (36-47 month) | 1.20% | $100,000 | 6 months of interest |
| 3 Years (30–41 months included) | MAC Federal Credit Union (36-month) | 1.45% | $1,000 | 3 months of interest |
| JUMBO 4 Years (42–53 months included) | Blue Federal Credit Union (48-month) | 1.30% | $100,000 | 8 months of interest |
| 4 Years (42–53 months included) | MAC Federal Credit Union (48-month) | 1.50% | $1,000 | 3 months of interest |
| JUMBO 5 Years (54–66 months included) | Wings Financial Credit Union (60-month) | 1.46% | $100,000 | Loss of amount equivalent 2 years’ dividends (730 days) |
| 5 Years (54–66 months included) | Greenwood Credit Union (60-month) | 1.50% | $1,000 | 6 months of interest |
If you’re looking for 10-year CDs, it’s best to look at our list for the best 10-year CD rates for non-jumbo CDs because there just aren’t many options for 10-year jumbo CDs.
If the steep deposit isn’t too much for you, here’s what to know about the institutions behind each of the best jumbo CD rates in our table above. (For more information on the banks and credit unions offering the best non-jumbo rates, see our list of the best CD rates.)
Michigan State University Federal Credit Union: Best 3-Month Jumbo CD
Just like its namesake, Michigan State University Credit Union is based out of Lansing, Michigan. Interestingly, it claims to be the largest university-based credit union in the world, and if you don’t qualify with some connection to Michigan State University, you can also join by first becoming a member of the MSU Alumni organization (membership is free) or Michigan United Conservation Clubs for $35 per year. Additionally, there’s no fee to open an account at the credit union, but you will need to deposit at least $5 to a Spartan Saver account.
Consumers Credit Union: Best 6-Month and 18-Month Jumbo CD
Consumers Credit Union is based out of Gurnee, Illinois, and has more than 80,000 members. You can become a member by joining the Consumers Cooperative Association for a $5 fee, which you can do while you complete your account application. In addition, you’ll need to keep at least $5 in a savings account.
Consumers Credit Union has an even wider range of financial products than most other credit unions. It offers several types of insurances (such as car insurance and long term care insurance), annuities, just about any type of loan you could want, and credit cards—and that’s even before you get to the regular accounts like checking accounts and savings accounts.
Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union: Best 1-Year Jumbo CD
In 1930, a group of Minnesota state employees formed what is now Affinity Federal Credit Union. Anyone nationwide can join with a $25 membership for the Affinity Plus Foundation, which provides financial education in Minnesota, and a $10 deposit in savings. When it’s time to spend your money, you can transfer funds into a free checking or rewards checking account.
California Coast Credit Union: Best 2-Year Jumbo CD
California Coast Credit Union is San Diego’s oldest financial institution, serving its members interests since 1929. It has more branches than any other local credit union and most area banks. California Coast offers convenient ATM access, free mobile and online banking, free checking with eStatements, Checking with ID, theft protection and high-yield checking, savings and money market accounts, certificates and IRAs, and so much more.
In addition to regular and jumbo CDs, California Coasts’ CD line-up also features a “holiday saver certificate” and a “summer certificate.” To get started with any of the certificates, you’ll need a minimum opening balance of $1,000. Anyone may apply to join the credit union with a one-time fee of $5.00.
Financial Partners Credit Union: Best 3-Year Jumbo CD
Financial Partners Credit Union has branches only in California, but it has more than 80,000 members and $1.5 billion in assets. It offers a wide range of banking services, including loans, insurance, investments, savings accounts, checking accounts, and even a car-buying service—but CDs are where this credit union really shines. To join the credit union, you must be a member of the AARP or any other credit union and keep at least $25 in a savings account.
Blue Federal Credit Union: Best 4-Year Jumbo CD
Blue Federal Credit Union serves more than 90,000 members in Colorado and Wyoming, and around the world. As part of a nationwide CO-OP network of credit unions, Blue Federal gives its members access to 5,000 shared branch locations across the U.S., and 30,000 surcharge-free ATMs.
Blue Federal offers a full range of everyday banking services—checking and savings accounts, plus credit cards and loans for both individuals and businesses—along with an impressive line-up of CDs, with terms ranging from six months to five years. Try its “expandable term CD” at 30 months and add money whenever you’d like.
Anyone may join Blue Federal Credit Union by making a $5 donation to the Blue Foundation. You may open a personal term share, or CD, with a minimum of $1,000.
Wings Financial Credit Union: Best 5-Year Jumbo CD
Wings Financial Credit Union, based in Apple Valley, Minnesota, was started in 1938 by a handful of Northwest Airlines employees. Since then, it’s grown to have more than $5.3 billion in assets and 280,000 members, and anyone in the aviation industry or from Atlanta, Detroit, Orlando, Seattle-Tacoma, or parts of Wisconsin and Minnesota is eligible to join. If you don’t meet the eligibility requirements any other way, don’t worry. You can join by becoming a member of the Wings Financial Foundation, which carries a $5 membership fee. You’ll also need to keep $5 in a savings account.
What Are Jumbo CDs?
A jumbo CD is a special CD that generally requires a very large minimum deposit. There isn’t a set standard for how large of a deposit you need to make to open a jumbo CD. It varies by bank or credit union and can range from $50,000 all the way up to $100,000 or more. The FDIC commonly considers CDs of at least $100,000 to be a jumbo CD.
Banks and credit unions often offer slightly higher rates on jumbo CDs in a bid to get you to deposit more money with them. They’ll also potentially offer higher rates for jumbo CDs with longer term lengths, just like with regular CDs.
There’s a bit of a twist here, though. While individual banks and credit unions may offer better rates on jumbo CDs, you can usually find much better rates on regular CDs if you’re willing to shop around. This is because banks and credit unions often compete with each other and offer promotional rates on regular CDs more often than jumbo CDs.
It’s sort of like the difference between fast-food burgers and gourmet burgers: Fast-food burger chains compete with each other more often on price so you can get a better deal pretty frequently, whereas it may be tough to find coupons or sales on gourmet burgers.
Even better, there’s usually nothing that says you can’t open one of these normal, high-APY CDs with an amount of cash that would qualify as a jumbo deposit. You would just earn more interest by the time the CD matures.
Are Jumbo CDs Safe?
Jumbo CDs are as safe as any other CD. They’re still insured up to $250,000 per institution by the FDIC (for banks) or the NCUA (for credit unions).
“A financial services professional should recommend a jumbo CD to a client when they need a safe investment,” Colin Slabach, Assistant Professor of Retirement at The American College of Financial Services, told The Balance via email. “A safe investment is necessary when the time horizon is only a few years away.”
Let’s think about this for a second. If you have the money and you’re not risking your other financial goals, a jumbo CD can be a great way to save up for a down payment on a house in an area with a high cost of living, for your child’s college education in a few years, or for some other big expense on the looming horizon.
However, jumbo CDs are often marketed as popular ways to save for retirement because they’re among the highest-earning accounts at many banks and credit unions, and because they’re insured. In fact, many banks and credit unions offer special jumbo IRA CDs just for these savers. But just because you’re guaranteed not to lose your money doesn’t mean that there aren’t risks on the flipside.
What Are the Risks of Jumbo CDs?
The biggest risk of saving in jumbo CDs, in the long run, is that your earnings most likely won’t outpace inflation. Inflation has historically been between 2% and 3% in the last 20 years. In other words, if you’re not earning at least 3% on your investment, you’re either running in place or falling behind the pack. And today, most jumbo CDs don’t offer anywhere close to that amount.
Earning a rate below the inflation level isn’t a big deal with most savings since they’re not meant to sustain you forever. But with something like your kid’s college tuition or your retirement savings, it can mean a world of difference.
When your jumbo CD’s term is up you’ll owe taxes on your earnings, and jumbo CDs can earn a lot of interest. Speak with your tax professional, because it may be a good idea to set some of your earnings aside to pay your taxes at the end of the year.
Another risk is having so much money tied up in one place. If you’re a billionaire, a jumbo CD is probably chump change. But if you’re like the rest of us, a jumbo CD could make up a substantial part of your net worth and that’s risky because it ties up a bigger part of your cash in something that’ll cost you a hefty price in penalty fees to access early if you need it. The early withdrawal fees are typically the same or similar for both non-jumbo and jumbo CDs, but because jumbo CDs require larger amounts in general, the early withdrawal penalties can add up to a very large amount of money.
What Are the Pros and Cons of Jumbo CDs?
Pros
- Insured up to $250,000 by the FDIC or NCUA
- Slightly better rates within the same bank or credit union
Cons
- Requires a much larger deposit size than other types of CDs or savings accounts
- Early withdrawal penalties will add up to a much higher dollar amount
- May require tying up a big part of your net worth in a non-liquid account
- May not match the returns of alternative investments, like the stock market
- Can get better rates on non-jumbo CDs from competing banks or credit unions
What Are the Alternatives to a Jumbo CD?
There are many alternatives to jumbo CDs. If you’re interested in really putting your money to work, you may want to consider stock market investments such as individual stocks, index funds, ETFs, or mutual funds.
For example, if you deposited $100,000 in a 5-year jumbo CD with an APY of 2.00%, you’d earn $10,408 in interest by the time the CD matures. But if you invest that amount in the stock market instead, with an annual return of 7%, you’d earn $40,255—a whopping $29,847 more.
You can also lose a lot of money in the stock market, so don’t invest anything you can’t afford to lose immediately. Most people invest in the stock market with long-term goals in mind. It’s important to know your risk tolerance before investing any money.
Another option is a high-interest savings account. Depending on the term length of the jumbo CD you’re interested in, you could earn more with a top-rated, high-interest savings account instead. It’s a similar story with money market accounts, many of which offer higher rates than jumbo CDs and still let you access your cash without penalty when you want.
If you prefer instant account access, we have partnered with the following banks to bring you the high-yield savings and money market account offers displayed in the table.