Jumbo CD Investments, Inc.

City County Credit Union – IRA Special – Limited Membership

editor — Tue, 15 May 2012 16:53:29 +0000

One of our readers alerted us to a special 1-year IRA CD at City County Credit Union. However, it is limited primarily to some counties in Florida. If you are in the vicinity, take a look.

Their official name is City County CU of Ft. Lauderdale. The two basic criteria for membership are:

Anyone who lives or works in Broward, Palm Beach, Miami-Dade, Brevard, Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, Indian River, Lake, Lee, Manatee, Marion, Martin, Monroe, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Polk, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Lucie or Volusia County, Florida
Licensed professionals and their employees

I sent an email for clarification on the 2nd option. But I’m guessing it is law related by looking through some of the select employee groups.

Their CD rates are competitive and they do give a little bump on the rates for $50,000 or more. However, the 1-year IRA special really stood out at a 1.25% APY. But it has to be from new money and be $10,000 or more. They have a 5-year CD at 2.05%.

NCUA#	61525
Stats Updated:	12/11
Star Rating:	****
Assets:	$320.2MM
Equity:	$37.9MM
Capital Ratio:	11.83%
Profits(loss):	$942.9K

Phone#:	(954)745-2400
Address:	1982 N State Road 7 Margate, FL 33063
Website:	https://www.citycountycu.org/asp/services/service_1_5.asp
Penalty:	6-months loss of interest for CDs greater than 1-year

One thing of interest in the disclosures is that “deposits can be made to a certificate any time during the term and will not change the interest rate or maturity date of the account.” This is pretty rare with CDs and with a special like that for the IRA, could come in pretty handy.

So if you are in their area, check them out. Happy CD Hunting. cd :O)

SunTrust Bank Review

editor — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 18:51:53 +0000

From our good friends at DepositAccounts.com. And I actually do count Ken as a friend. We have shared content and emails before on various subjects.

For other bank reviews, Click Here for the blogs main page or Here for our placement service.

SunTrust Bank is quite a large bank with branches primarily in the South East. They were established in 1891 and obtained FDIC insurance in 1934 during the Great Depression. The original name was Trust Company of Georgia. Over the years, they acquired and consolidated numerous other Trust Company banks and then began acquiring other SunTrust Banks in the 2000. They are a large bank and healthy bank. They will take deposits from other parts of the country. You just have to provide proper documentation.

FDIC#	867
Stats Updated:	12/11
Star Rating:	****
Assets:	$171.3BB
Equity:	$20.6BB
Capital Ratio:	11.99%
Profits(loss):	$663.5MM

Phone#:	(800) 786-7777
Address:	303 Peachtreet Street, Northeast Atlanta,GA 30308
Website:	https://www.suntrust.com/rates/products/CDRates

SunTrust Bank has decent rates, but the 6-year is fairly competitive at 2.00%. However, the early withdrawal penalty can be quite substantial and is based on the remaining term. For example, if 3-years are left on the term the EWP is 2-years of interest. So if you opt for the long term CDs, it will almost certainly be a “buy-and-hold” situation. They also do IRA CDs.

9-Month:	0.25%
15-Month:	0.25%
25-Month:	0.65%
37-Month:	0.85%
59-Month:	1.30%
72-Month:	2.00%

Happy CD Searching – cd :O)

Zombie CD Rates and the Coming Apocalypse

editor — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 19:20:31 +0000

First, forgive the dramatic title; just having some fun. Two different people mentioned a similar topic though and I felt like it would be entertaining and informative. Are these low rates turning us into Zombies? Can we battle against the forces of darkness and retain our wits? Finally, are we doomed and really just prolonging the inevitable? Often times in Zombie movies, the lead character is a tough, no-nonsense, grizzled, Son-of-a-Gun. Sometimes he rubs people the wrong way. But after all, he is working to save the world (find better CD Rates), and we usually grow to like him and cheer him on. He bucks the system, plays by his rules, but is fighting to free the little guy. His weapon of choice (until he runs out of ammo) may be a semi-automatic, sawed-off shotgun (or search engine and a phone). There will be flashbacks of a tortured life that made him the cold-hearted man that he is (which is perfect for a Zombie killer). In the beginning of any great Zombie movie, our “hero” ends up picking up a poor, hapless soul that just lost their family. At first, he resists, he doesn’t need a tag-along. But he realizes he can’t win this fight alone, and begins to create a mini-me zombie (low CD Rates) killer. I do believe these low rates are turning many into zombies. But, I am here to fight with you to the bitter end. We can battle against the banks paying a lifeless 0.10%. We can move our money and earn 1.00% or more. I don’t believe life is ever served by just sitting back in the easy chair, checking out, and just taking come what may. You have to keep your wits and reflexes sharp. That means fighting against the zombie hoard of lifeless banks. I do believe these low certificate of deposit rates will be around for a while yet. Making it harder and harder to fight. Of late, there have been some large banks offering cash bonuses for new accounts. Just be careful of the small print. You may need to have a certain number of debit transactions or balance requirements. The other problem with these is once banks have your money, they often drop the teaser rate. So if you go this route, keep your “weapons” loaded and be ready to move quick. I would make sure that the banks have any easy method for moving your funds out. And I do believe the hunt will keep you sharp. Keep track of those web sites (depositaccounts.com [they have a write-up on a 6-year at 2.00%], bankrate.com, jumbocdinvestments.com) that follow bank rates and occasionally do new searches to see if there are any new players. Be careful of ads that promise things that are too good to be true. If CD rates are hovering around 1.00 to 2.00% and someone is offering you a guaranteed investment of 10%, I would be very weary. It just might be a Zombie outpost trying to lure you in. Join our army and let us know of sites and rates that you find. A small, well equipped team can conquer large zombie forces. Finally, is there a pending Apocalypse? Yes, I believe there is, but it could be tomorrow, next month, next year, or in the next century. We can’t live our life in fear. Be ready with supplies and tools. Be ready with a network of friends and family. Keep your wits sharp. But, live your life. Don’t cower, be strong and stand up to the Zombie hoard. cd :O) Image from: Zombie Silhouettes.

CIT Bank – Bank Rates Review

editor — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:23:03 +0000

First, I made the new CD Rates menu live ahead of schedule. So now when you are on the blog, you’ll be able to select which term you are looking for and a list of federally insured banks and credit unions will be displayed. It is sorted highest to lowest of course. If available, it will link to the blog post where we reviewed the institution. I hope this new feature is helpful. Let me know what other data you would like to see and we will see what we can do. I did the database modifications and coding on my own and I know enough to be dangerous. Please let me know if anything looks broken. The data under the individual blog posts is still done manually so we will be working on upgrading that over the next few months.

CIT Bank is a relative new comer to banking. They were established in 2000. Just over the last few months they have been in the national market competing in the online CD and bank marketplace. CIT itself has been around since 1908 and like other brokerage firms (Charles Schwab, Goldman Sachs, etc.) they started their own bank.

FDIC#	35575
Stats Updated:	09/11
Star Rating:	****
Assets:	$7.5BB
Equity:	$1.96BB
Capital Ratio:	26.08%
Profits(loss):	$55.07MM

Phone#:	(855) 462-2652
Address:	2180 South 1300 East, Suite 250 Salt Lake City,UT 84106
Website:	https://www.bankoncit.com

CIT Bank has three different types of CDs. All of them have very competitive rates. They have the Achiever CD that allows for a one-time bump on the rates (if they move up) and a one-time add-on of additional funds. They have their regular CDs that have a low minimum, only $1000 is needed. Finally, they have offerings for Jumbo CDs which gives a slight bonus for the larger amounts. I don’t believe they are offering IRA rates yet, but feel free to correct me if I am wrong. I do think it is a little interesting that they don’t offer the Achiever CD for 3-year CDs. This gives a little hint about what they think rates could do after 2-years.

Achiever CD	1-Year:	1.08%
Achiever CD	2-Year:	1.26%
Regular CD	6-Month:	0.45%
Regular CD	1-Year:	1.06%
Regular CD	2-Year:	1.25%
Regular CD	3-Year:	1.46%
Jumbo CD	2-Year:	1.27%
Jumbo CD	3-Year:	1.48%

Happy CD Hunting.
cd :O)

Low Rates Through 2014 and Beyond

editor — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:23:53 +0000

The FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) finished their January meetings this week. They usually meet every six weeks and outside of a sudden change that affects the economy they won’t meet again until March. Of particular interest to savers is the commitment to keep rates low, well into 2014. Their goal is to keep borrowing rates low to spur on lending and improve the economy. For people seeking loans this is great news. For people living off of savings and fixed income savings it is awful. There has got to be a better way. Matter of fact, continuing to encourage debt over savings just shows our wonderful leaders didn’t learn anything these last few years. They are also encouraging greater risk taking for the savers because they will be tempted to seek yield which often leads to making poor investment decisions. I am working on an article about volatility in a portfolio versus consistency. Hopefully that may help a few from seeking too high risk/yielding investment vehicles. Two months ago I personally put some funds into a 10-year CD through my brokerage account. I just felt for me, I would rather have the guarantee than the stress of worrying about the ups and downs in the market. My own portfolio is made up of a few CDs, and four ETFs (US Broad Index, REIT, Short-term Treasuries, and TIPS). When it comes to CD rates expect the rates to fall further and the curve to flatten. Their is still a bit of spread between the short-term and long-term CDs, but I don’t think it will last too much longer. 1-year CDs will slide closer to 0.25% and 5-year CDs probably below 1.00%. Institutional CD Rates have already been in the low 1.00%’s. I’m guessing the time frame would be over the next 6-months. If you just aren’t sure about locking your rates in for the long-term, then put some short and some long. Pentagon (NCUA insured) has one of the top 1-year rates out there at 1.16% and a 7-year CD at 2.75%. They typically change rates once a month. However, this maybe one of those times they don’t wait. If you have some excess funds take a look at them. What are your thoughts? Would enjoy some dialog. cd :O)

No related posts.

Spencer Savings Bank (MA) – Bank Rates and Review

editor — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 19:11:33 +0000

These rates are only available to residents of Massachusetts (MA), but I also wanted to take some time to let you know about some updates that will be coming down the pike. Over the next few months we will be completing an online database that will enable our rates pages to be more dynamic. As it is, each post has to be manually updated when rates change and I’m sure you get an idea of how much time that would take on a weekly basis.

We we will also be adding a 2nd navigation bar so that you can quickly view the top rates by term or rate. So if you are just looking for 1-year CD rates, click that button and that is what you will get. This should save you quite a bit of time in your rate searches.

And of course we will continue to offer our CD placement services to those that you want a little more attention or have larger portfolios that make rate finding more difficult.

And now for info on the bank. There are actually two Spencer Savings Banks. One in Massachusetts and one in New Jersey. This post is about the MA bank. The bank was founded in 1871. Like most banks in Massachusetts the bank carries dual insurance through the FDIC and Depositors Insurance Fund (DIF). The DIF insures all amounts above the FDIC limits. An interesting Tidbit: they weren’t covered by the FDIC until 1985. The dual insurance can be quite handy for depositors with large amounts at the bank.

FDIC#	90282
Stats Updated:	09/11
Star Rating:	3 1/2 (***)
Assets:	$373.8MM
Equity:	$48.9MM
Capital Ratio:	13.09%
Profits(loss):	$1.05M

Phone#:	(800) 547-2885
Address:	176 Main Street Spencer, MA 01562
Website:	https://www.spencersavingsbank.com

Spencer Savings Bank (MA) CD Rates

6-Months:	0.55%
7-Months:	0.65%
1-Year:	0.75%
13-Months:	0.85%
18-Months:	0.90%
2-Year:	1.15%
3-Year:	1.60%

Merry Christmas from Jumbo CD Investments

editor — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 17:08:07 +0000

I sure wish I could deliver some awesome Christmas rate, but at least I can deliver Christmas greetings. I tracked down a poem and picture from the public domain so hopefully you enjoy. Have a Merry, Merry Christmas.

A Cradle Song

Sweet dreams, form a shade
O’er my lovely infant’s head!
Sweet dreams of pleasant streams
By happy, silent, moony beams!

Sweet Sleep, with soft down
Weave thy brows an infant crown!
Sweet Sleep, angel mild,
Hover o’er my happy child!

Sweet smiles, in the night
Hover over my delight!
Sweet smiles, mother’s smiles,
All the livelong night beguiles.

Sweet moans, dovelike sighs,
Chase not slumber from thy eyes!
Sweet moans, sweeter smiles,
All the dovelike moans beguiles.

Sleep, sleep, happy child!
All creation slept and smiled.
Sleep, sleep, happy sleep,
While o’er thee thy mother weep.

Sweet babe, in thy face
Holy image I can trace;
Sweet babe, once like thee
Thy Maker lay, and wept for me:

Wept for me, for thee, for all,
When He was an infant small.
Thou His image ever see,
Heavenly face that smiles on thee!

Smiles on thee, on me, on all,
Who became an infant small;
Infant smiles are His own smiles;
Heaven and earth to peace beguiles.

— William Blake (1757-1827)
Source: William Blake, Songs of Innocence and of Experience, 1794 Etext #1934, Project Gutenberg
www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!
cd :O)

Bank of America Review

editor — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 19:56:31 +0000

Bank of America has been in the news quite a bit lately. With the bad PR for wanting to raise fees on ATM/Debit type cards, bank transfer day, and more news about bad loans, I’m sure their PR folks are looking for something with a positive spin. Personally, the accounts they lost from the increased fees (they later changed their mind), has problem helped them. After all, I suspect they lost quite a few accounts that actually lost them money. So it was probably helpful. BofA isn’t really known for great CD rates, but they do have a competitive 7-year rate.

FDIC#	3510
Stats Updated:	09/11
Star Rating:	4 (****)
Assets:	$1.4TT
Equity:	$180.0BB
Capital Ratio:	12.25%
Profits(loss):	$7.12BB

Phone#:	(800) 242-2632
Address:	101 South Tryon St. Charlotte,NC 28202
Website:	https://www.bankofamerica.com/

Bank of America CD Rates

1-Year:	0.45%
18-Months:	0.55%
2-Year:	0.40%
3-Year:	0.60%
4-Year:	0.85%
5-Year:	1.20%
7-Year:	2.30%

We recently added a couple of calculators to our site. One is an interest and APY calculator and the other is an Early Withdrawal Penalty calculator. Check them out and let me know what you think. Jumbo CD Investments Calculators
cd :O)

AloStar Bank of Commerce – Review

editor — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 22:56:53 +0000

AloStar Bank of Commerce provides some insight on the name on their website. It reads:

The Latin term, Alo, means to nourish, cherish, support, sustain, maintain and keep. These are words that say a lot about what we want to do for our customers as well as our employees. The word “Star” denotes many positives as well: a guiding light, a sign of destiny or a preeminent figure.

Man, that is some heavy stuff. The bank was created to take over the failed Nexity Bank. The bank’s site indicates $160MM was raised to seemingly purchase $750MM in assets. That seems like a pretty good deal.

FDIC#	59060
Stats Updated:	06/11
Star Rating:	NA (Start-up)
Assets:	$851.5MM
Equity:	$168.48MM
Capital Ratio:	19.8%
Profits(loss):	11.6M 6-months

Phone#:	(877) 738-6391
Contact:
Address:	3680 Grandview Parkway, Suite 200 Birmingham, AL 35243
Website:	http://alostarbank.com/investment/cds.asp

AloStar Bank of Commerce has an online process to open up new accounts. The biggest draw back is account has to be manually approved by them. If they approve the account they send you an email with a reference# that you can use as the account# to wire in the funds and complete the transaction. Our experience hasn’t been too bad.

1-Year:	1.12%
2-Year:	1.30%

Happy Rate Searching!!!

cd :O)

F & M Bank and Trust – Review

editor — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 20:37:40 +0000

F & M Bank and Trust Company has a very basic banking site. There is a login which in theory would provide more access to other tools, but without an account, I can’t review it. They were established in 1948 and have been FDIC insured since 1950.

FDIC#	16916
Stats Updated:	06/11
Star Rating:	1 (*)
Assets:	$101.8MM
Equity:	$8.8MM
Capital Ratio:	8.57%
Profits(loss):	(420K) 6-months

Phone#:	(706) 846-8415
Contact:
Address:	142 W. Main Street Manchester, GA 31816
Website:	http://www.fmbankandtrust.com/

F & M Bank and Trust Company has five options on their main site: 1) Security 2) Contact us 3) Privacy 4) Questions and 5) Begin Banking. No rates or account type information is available on the public site. They aren’t a very large bank so probably have some very loyal depositors that don’t need all the flash, etc. On the other hand, they do have an operating loss and lost money the last couple of years as well. It may be time for an upgrade to their on-line offerings. I did send a request for their rates and stuff. If I get a response I will post them.

1-Year:	—-%
18-Months:	—-%
2-Year:	—-%
3-Year:	—-%
4-Year:	—-%
5-Year:	—-%

Happy Rate Searching!!!

I did post a new IRA FAQ, check it out.

cd :O)