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Boost Your Savings with Certificate Laddering

Authored By: Amy Hart on 9/6/2023

Certificate laddering is a great way to save and take advantage of higher dividend rates. Certificates, also known as share certificates or certificates of deposit, are like a savings account where you can’t withdraw the money for a certain period of time. In return for agreeing to keep your money in a certificate for a longer period of time, you get rewarded with a higher rate of return.

Certificates differ from regular savings accounts in two ways:

  1. The money you put into them cannot be touched for a fixed length of time and;
  2. The interest rate doesn’t change for the length of the term.

The greater the amount of the certificate and the longer the term, the higher the dividend rate. To create a ladder, open a few certificates with different term lengths.

For example, say you have $4,000 and decide to distribute the amount among four certificates like this:

  1. $1,000 in a 1-year certificate
  2. $1,000 in a 2-year certificate
  3. $1,000 in a 3-year certificate
  4. $1,000 in a 4-year certificate

At the end of a certificate’s term, you can decide to either move the money to your checking account or use it to open another 4-year certificate with a higher interest rate. That way, each year you’ll have the choice to either spend the money or use it to open a higher yield certificate.

Right now you can earn up to 5.00% APY* when you open a 12-month certificate and up to 4.25% APY* when you open an 18, 24 or 30-month certificate. Opening a certificate requires just $500 to open! You can also earn some jumbo savings with our 12-month Jumbo Certificate, which requires a minimum opening deposit of $50,000 in new money to Fort Financial, but the APY is 5.55%**!

Visit a Fort Financial branch or contact us for more information or to open your certificate.

*Rate reflects 0.25% Premier/Access Premier relationship bonus.

**Limit 1 per member. Not eligible for Premier/Access Premier relationship bonus.
APY = Annual Percentage Yield. Offers subject to change without notice. Certificates will mature as indicated on the account receipt or renewal notice. Certificates are non-transferable and non-negotiable. Fort Financial may impose a penalty for withdrawal before maturity date. See branch staff for details.

 



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