My credit union told me 3% on a CD was good until I checked a brokerage

Last month I went to renew a 6-month CD at my local credit union here in Spokane. The teller offered me 3.2% and acted like it was a great deal. I almost signed on the dotted line until I remembered a buddy mentioning treasury bills through his online broker. I checked Fidelity's website that evening and found a 6-month T-bill yielding over 5.3%. That's a difference of about $105 on a $10,000 deposit over just six months. It really made me wonder how many times I've left easy money sitting on the table. Has anyone else compared their bank's CD rates to what brokers offer on T-bills lately?

2 comments

2 Comments

emmajackson1d ago

Wait, let me get this straight. Your local credit union offered 3.2% and called it good when T-bills were paying over 5%? That's almost criminal in my book. I'd be curious to know if they even mentioned the option of treasury bills or just pushed their own product. I've seen similar stuff at banks here in Texas, where they act like 2% is a gift from heaven while you can get 4%+ on a treasury direct account.

noahpark1d ago

Yeah, I gotta admit I used to be one of those people who thought 3% was amazing. My credit union always bragged about their rates and I just assumed it was the best I could get. Then a friend showed me their TreasuryDirect account and I felt kind of dumb for not looking into it sooner. It really changes your whole perspective on what a "good" rate actually means, especially when you see the difference adding up over a few months. Makes you wonder how many other people are just trusting their bank without shopping around.