Need to take your RMD by the end of the year? These CDs are a smart and safe place to direct your money.

Key Findings

If you are in the required minimum distribution (RMD) phase of your retirement account, you must withdraw your 2024 RMD by December 31st.
But if you don’t need that money right now, it’s smart to invest it where it can generate significant returns. Today’s best CDs meet these requirements by offering a risk-free strategy that can provide guaranteed annual returns of 4% to 5%—even as high as 5.50%.
Below, we present more than two dozen of the highest-paying CDs that will allow you to lock in one of today’s stellar rates through 2025, 2026, or even longer.
The Fed is likely to cut interest rates next year, with a cut also possible next month. Since any reduction in rates will result in lower CD rates, it’s wise to lock in the CD you like as soon as possible.
To maintain access to some of your RMD cash, consider opening a high-yield savings account in addition to CDs. But note that the savings rate will fall with any Fed rate cut, while CD rates will be fixed until the end of the term.

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Withdrawals from RMDs in 2024 must be made by December 31, but you can still save money

If you have a retirement account that requires required minimum distributions (RMDs) after a certain age, those distributions must occur each year by December 31 to avoid significant penalties. You can withdraw the required dollar amount (or more) at any time during the year and as many times as you want. But to keep the money in your retirement account growing tax-free for as long as possible, you may want to wait until the end of the year to take the required RMD amount in a lump sum.

This is especially true if you don’t need the money right now. But what to do with the withdrawn unnecessary funds? If you’re confident you won’t need the money for a long time, you may want to consider reinvesting it in a taxable brokerage account. But this comes with risks as the investment may result in you losing money.

If instead you want to protect your cash from any loss while watching it grow, you’ll be in luck in 2024. That’s because savings accounts and certificates of deposit (CDs) are now paying historically high rates. By choosing a max savings rate or CD (we’ve got dozens of great options for you below), your funds could grow 4% to 5%—or even more—and be safe from any risk.

All Federally Insured Facilities Are Equally Safe

All of the institutions we evaluate for savings and certificate of deposit accounts are federally insured: FDIC for banks or NCUA for credit unions. This means that no matter how big or small the institution, your deposits up to $250,000 per person are federally protected.

Why CDs are so good for your savings now

Thanks to the Federal Reserve’s historic campaign to raise rates between 2022 and 2023 to curb post-pandemic inflation, CD rates rose to 20-year highs last fall, exceeding 6%. However, now that inflation has cooled, the Fed has moved on to a rate cut. As a result, CD rates are falling, and the top nationwide rate recently dropped to 5.50%.

Unfortunately for savers, the Fed is expected to follow up its September and November federal funds rate cuts with further cuts—perhaps in December, but almost certainly in 2025. The central bank may even continue cutting rates until 2026.

This potentially long-term rate decline is why today’s best CDs, especially multi-year certificates, are such a smart move right now. By locking in one of today’s rates, your profits from these funds will be protected from any actions the Fed takes in the next couple of years.

While it’s true that the nation’s best CD rates have declined from their 2023 peak, they continue to generate historically high returns. Just compare today’s rates below to rates on CDs opened in early 2022, when the highest rates in the country ranged from 0.50% to 1.50% APR.

These High Yield CDs Provide a Smart and Safe Place for Your RMD Funds

Our daily ranking of the best CD rates always provides you with a list of the best paying deals available across the country. Currently, the highest yield is offered on short-term CDs, while long-term CDs offer slightly lower rates but extend the interest rate guarantee much further into the future.

Here’s a look at some of today’s hottest bets for terms that could last almost until 2030. For more information on any of these CDs, click on the link to our list of the best deals for this period.

Live in one of these states? You could earn even more

The above CDs are available to anyone nationwide, but sometimes regional banks and credit unions pay higher rates. This week we found 13 of these top national CDs that are available to select CD buyers in Texas, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Maine.

To keep access to some money, consider these high-yield savings accounts

If you can’t transfer all of your RMD funds into a CD, the next best option is to put the money in a top-rated high-yield savings account. While these rates are expected to decrease as the Fed cuts rates in the future, for now you have several options to earn at least 5.00%.

You can find details on these options, and many more, in our daily roundup of today’s best high-yield savings account rates.

Daily rankings of the best CDs and savings accounts

Please note that the “maximum rates” listed here are the highest nationwide rates that Investopedia has determined in its daily research of rates from hundreds of banks and credit unions. That’s a far cry from the national average, which includes all banks offering certificates of deposit with this term, including many large banks that pay meager interest. So the national averages are always quite low, while the top rates you can find out by shopping around are often five, 10 or even 15 times higher.

How we find the best CD discounts and rates

Every business day, Investopedia tracks rate data from more than 200 banks and credit unions that offer certificates of deposit and savings accounts to customers across the country and determines daily rankings of the highest paying accounts. To be included on our lists, an institution must be federally insured (FDIC for banks, NCUA for credit unions) and the minimum initial deposit in the account must not exceed $25,000. He also cannot indicate maximum The deposit amount is below 5000 US dollars.

Banks must be available in at least 40 states to qualify as nationally available. And while some credit unions require you to make a donation to a specific charity or association to become a member, unless you meet other eligibility criteria (for example, you don’t live in a certain area or work a certain job), we exclude credit unions. unions whose donation requirements are $40 or more. Read more about how we choose the best rates in our full methodology.