CD Ladders FAQs

Since the CDs in a ladder have staggered maturity dates, you can have regular penalty-free access to a portion of your money, as each CD within the ladder matures.

If you need access to your money before your CDs mature, there may be an early withdrawal penalty.

A CD ladder is a group of CDs with staggered maturity dates. A CD ladder is a great savings solution that allows you to take advantage of more frequent access to a portion of your money at planned intervals. Rather than placing all your CD money into one term, at one interest rate, you schedule CD maturities to coincide with your needs.

Learn what a CD ladder can do for you.

To build a CD ladder, open multiple CDs at the same time with staggered maturity dates.

Here's an example of a CD ladder:

• Take an initial deposit of $15,000 to invest over 3 years.
• Open a 1, 2 and 3 year CD and fund with $5,000 each.
• Renew the CDs into a new 3 year CD at the end of each term to keep the ladder going, or cash it out.

By choosing to build a CD ladder, you can benefit from the higher interest rates typically available for longer term CDs while providing you with easy access to your money at planned intervals.

To keep your ladder going, provide renewal instructions in online banking or call us at 1-877-247-2559. You can renew into another term, or allow the CDs to automatically renew into the same term.

Get The Basics on starting a CD ladder.

Since CD ladders work best with CDs that have staggered maturity dates, consider building your ladder with Ally Bank High Yield CDs and Raise Your Rate CDs. Since you can choose from several different terms, you can customize a CD ladder according to your savings goals. You can also build a ladder using Ally Bank IRA High Yield CDs and IRA Raise Your Rate CDs.

See a CD ladder in action using our Step by Step guide or Quick CD Calculator.

With Ally Bank's Ten Day Best Rate Guarantee, you automatically get the best rate we offer for your CD during the first 10 days, starting with your open or renewal date, if you fund your CD within that time. This guarantee does not apply to interest rate increases for the Raise Your Rate CD.

In addition, if your CD ladder includes our Raise Your Rate CD, you have the option to raise your rate once over the 2-year term and twice over the 4-year term, if our rates on these CDs go up.