CD Rate Calculator
Calculate a certificate of deposit's maturity value, interest earned and early-withdrawal penalty from your deposit, APY and term length.
Maturity value
$10,450.00
Interest earned
$450.00
Term
1.00 yr
How it's calculated
A CD takes one deposit with no ongoing contributions, locked in at a fixed APY for a stated term:
maturity value = deposit × (1 + APY)term in years
If you estimate an early-withdrawal penalty, it's calculated the way most banks disclose it: a stated number of months' interest, charged against your ORIGINAL deposit at the account's rate, regardless of how long you actually held the CD:
penalty = deposit × monthly rate × penalty months
Worked example
The calculator's own defaults: a $10,000 deposit at a 4.5% APY for a 12-month term, with a 3-month early-withdrawal penalty estimate.
| Maturity value | $10,450.00 |
| Interest earned | $450.00 |
| Estimated early-withdrawal penalty | $110.24 |
At exactly a 12-month term, a $10,000 deposit at a 4.5% APY matures to precisely $10,450 -- confirming the APY is applied as the true one-year rate, not compounded a second time. Plug the same numbers into the calculator above and it reconciles to the cent.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is a CD's maturity value calculated from its APY?
A CD's quoted APY already IS the actual annual return including compounding -- the same convention this site's HYSA calculator uses. This calculator raises (1 + APY) to the power of the term in years (a fraction for terms under a year, like a 6-month CD), which is the standard way every bank CD calculator projects a stated APY forward to a specific term length.
What happens if I withdraw from a CD before it matures?
Almost every CD charges an early-withdrawal penalty, most commonly stated as a number of months' worth of interest (e.g. "3 months' interest" for shorter terms, more for longer ones) forfeited from your principal -- this calculator's optional penalty estimate uses exactly that convention. The real number varies by bank and by term length, so check your specific CD's account disclosure rather than assuming a fixed penalty; some banks also cap the penalty so it can't exceed the interest actually earned.
Are CDs FDIC insured the same way as a savings account?
Yes -- CDs at an FDIC-member bank are covered by the same $250,000-per-depositor, per-insured-bank, per-ownership-category limit as checking, savings and money market accounts, combined together (source: FDIC.gov). A CD and a savings account at the same bank in your name share one $250,000 limit, not $250,000 each.
Is a CD or a high-yield savings account better?
It depends on whether you need the money to stay liquid. A CD locks in today's rate for the full term -- a real advantage if rates are expected to fall, since a HYSA's variable rate can drop at any time, but a real disadvantage if rates rise, since you're stuck at the locked-in rate (or pay an early-withdrawal penalty to get out). The HYSA calculator on this site models the liquid, variable-rate alternative for the same deposit so you can compare both.
Do shorter-term CDs pay lower APYs than longer-term CDs?
Not necessarily -- it depends entirely on the current shape of interest rates, which changes over time. Sometimes short-term CDs pay MORE than long-term ones (an "inverted" rate environment), and sometimes it's the reverse. This calculator doesn't predict or assume either pattern; enter the actual APY your bank is quoting for the specific term you're considering.
Figures on this page are estimates from the inputs you enter, not financial advice, and this site is not affiliated with any employer, plan administrator, bank or the IRS. Real accounts vary by plan rules, taxes and fees this tool doesn't model -- see the Terms.