Top CDs Today, June 21, 2024 - Top 2-Year Rate Dips, But 6% Leader Holds (2024)

Where Will CD Rates Go in 2024?

To combat decades-high inflation, the Federal Reserve aggressively hiked the federal funds rate between March 2022 and July 2023, raising the benchmark rate to its highest level in 22 years. That's important to savers because when the fed funds rate rises, banks and credit unions increase the interest rates they're willing to pay on customer deposits.

As a result, this past fall saw historically favorable conditions for CD shoppers, as well as for anyone holding cash in ahigh-yield savingsormoney market account. Rates on CDs rose to an October-November peak that was the highest we've seen in two decades.

But since its last rate hike in July, the Fed has been in a holding pattern. As was all but certain, the Federal Reserve's rate-setting committee announced on June 12 that it was once again maintaining the federal funds rate at its current level. It's the seventh meeting in a row in which the central bank has held its benchmark rate steady.

That's because inflation has been cooling, allowing the Fed to stop raising interest rates. Yet, further inflation progress has been elusive. That puts the central bank in wait-and-see mode as it looks for evidence that inflation is falling enough to justify lowering the federal funds rate.

Last week's written statement from the Fed again included familiar language about remaining focused on tamping down inflation that is still too high: "Inflation has eased over the past year but remains elevated. In recent months, there has been modest further progress toward the Committee's 2% inflation objective."

The rate decision was also accompanied by the quarterly "dot plot" release, which reveals where each Fed board member (represented by a unnamed dot on a graph) predicts the federal funds rate will be at the end of the current year, as well as the next two years.

The June dot plot shows a median projection of one rate cut of 0.25 percentage points by the end of 2024. However, a sizable group predicted we'll see two rate decreases. At the other end of the spectrum, a 20% contingent forecasted the federal funds rate will stay where it is for the rest of this year.

Speaking during his customary press conference following the statement release, Fed Chair Jerome Powell made it clear that the committee is looking for continued evidence of a decline in inflation before it will implement a rate cut.

"Goals have moved toward better balance, but the economic outlook is uncertain," Powell said. "We remain highly attentive to inflation risks. We've stated that we do not expect it will be appropriate to reduce the target range for the federal funds rate until we have gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2%."

In response to the Fed's announcement and Powell's remarks, fed funds traders have increased their bets that a first rate cut will come in September. For the next meeting, concluding July 31, only about one in ten traders currently expect a rate cut. But by the meeting concluding Sept. 18, about two-thirds of traders believe the Fed will have implemented a rate decrease.

In the meantime, Fed officials are expected to continue watching and waiting for additional data before making any decisions. This means CD rates are generally expected to continue their plateau. When at some point the Fed signals it's ready to start cutting rates, which could happen in the not-too-distant future, that will begin driving CD yields down more quickly. So it's a good time to lock in one of today's stellar CD rates while you still can.

How We Find the Best CD Rates

Every business day, Investopedia tracks the rate data of more than 200 banks and credit unions that offer CDs to customers nationwide and determines daily rankings of the top-paying certificates in every major term. To qualify for our lists, the institution must be federally insured (FDIC for banks, NCUA for credit unions), and the CD's minimum initial deposit must not exceed $25,000.

Banks must be available in at least 40 states. And while some credit unions require you to donate to a specific charity or association to become a member if you don't meet other eligibility criteria (e.g., you don't live in a certain area or work in a certain kind of job), we exclude credit unions whose donation requirement is $40 or more. For more about how we choose the best rates, read our full methodology.