Certificate of Deposit Calculator

Use this calculator to find out how much interest you can earn on a Certificate of Deposit (CD). Just enter a few pieces of information and we will calculate your Annual Percentage Yield (APY) and ending balance. Click on the "View Report" button to see a detailed schedule of your CD's balance and interest earned. Unhappy with your current CD rate? Check out Bankrate's exclusive list of the highest yielding cds in the United States.

DefinitionsInitial deposit: The starting balance for your CD.Months: The total number of months for this CD to mature.Interest rate: The published interest rate for this CD. Make sure to enter the actual interest rate, not the Annual Percentage Yield (APY).Annual percentage yield (APY): This is the effective annual interest rate earned for this CD. A CD's APY depends on the frequency of compounding and the interest rate. Since APY measures your actual interest earned per year, you can use it to compare CD's of different interest rates and compounding frequencies.Compounding: Interest earned on your CD's accumulated interest. This calculator allows you to choose the frequency that your CD's interest income is added to your account. The more frequently this occurs, the sooner your accumulated interest income will generate additional interest. You may wish to check with your financial institution to find out how often interest is being compounded on your particular CD.
Information and interactive calculators are made available to you as self-help tools for your independent use and are not intended to provide investment advice. We can not and do not guarantee their applicability or accuracy in regards to your individual circumstances. All examples are hypothetical and are for illustrative purposes. We encourage you to seek personalized advice from qualified professionals regarding all personal finance issues.



Conflicting credit scores cause confusion

When you buy your credit score, it's almost certainly not the same number your mortgage lender will see.
Your lender might see a lower score, or even one calculated on a different scale. It means you could apply for a loan thinking you deserve a low interest rate, but end up paying a higher one because your score wasn't as good as you assumed.
Confusion arises because consumers and lenders often see different credit scores. As if that didn't create enough of a misunderstanding, customers, lenders and credit bureaus each view credit scores from their own perspectives.



What creates the confusion?
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Consumers buy their credit scores to find out if they're going to be eligible for the lowest rates or if they'll have to pay higher subprime rates.
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Lenders use credit scores to estimate how likely the borrower is to make late payments.
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Credit bureaus sell credit scores to consumers to make money and to teach people how to improve their credit profiles.

When these viewpoints clash, consumers get frustrated. One Bankrate reader
complained to financial advice columnist Dr. Don Taylor that she bought her credit

scores from two of the big three credit bureaus as part of her search for a mortgage, only to discover that the scores were based on a scale that, from her standpoint, misleadingly pumped up her creditworthiness.

She thought she was buying a FICO score, developed by Fair Isaac Corp., and used by almost every lender in the mortgage business. Savvy consumers know that the FICO score is on a scale of 300 to 850 -- the higher the better -- and that certain scores serve as dividing lines between subprime (high-rate) borrowers and prime (lower-rate) borrowers.