CD Calculator: Free Calculator for Certificates of Deposit

Enter your deposit, CD term and rate to see what interest you would earn.
Spencer Tierney
By Spencer Tierney 
Edited by Yuliya Goldshteyn

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NerdWallet's CD calculator shows what you can earn with a certificate of deposit, a type of savings account that you leave untouched for months or years. Like regular savings accounts, CDs are safe because they are federally insured. Use the CD calculator below to see total interest.

What should I know when choosing CDs?

  • Prioritize finding a high interest rate. Not every bank has competitive rates on its CDs. See our list of the best CD rates.

  • Not sure what certain concepts mean? Skip down to our glossary.

  • Avoid early withdrawal fees. Although short-term CDs mean less time to wait to access your money and less need to incur the penalty to get money early, long-term certificates typically have higher rates.

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Compare top CD rates

CIT Bank CD

CIT Bank logo
APY

4.60%

Term

1.5 years

Marcus by Goldman Sachs logo
Learn More

Member FDIC

Marcus by Goldman Sachs High-Yield CD

Marcus by Goldman Sachs logo
APY

4.50%

Term

1 year

» Learn more: Highest CD rates available this month

Frequently asked questions

CDs are safe investments that can help with some short-term savings goals, and you can find rates higher than you could last year, thanks to the Fed raising its rate. But keep in mind that with a higher inflation rate, you may need to consider multiple ways to save. See more details in our article on the pros and cons of CDs.

This depends on the CD rate. A five-year CD at a competitive online bank could have a rate of 1.50% APY, which would earn nearly $40 in five years. A five-year CD rate closer to the national average, such as 1.26%, would earn about $7. If your savings are closer to $500 than $10,000, you might also consider a high-yield savings account, rewards checking options or neobanks with interest-earning accounts, which can have competitive interest rates with maximum balance limits.

This depends on the CD rate. A one-year CD with a rate of 1% APY earns $100, while a CD with a rate of 0.10% APY earns $10. To compare current rates, see the best one-year CD rates this month.

Only if you withdraw before the CD term matures. The penalty tends to vary from a few months' to a year’s worth of interest.

CD definitions

Initial deposit amount: The sum you’re putting into a single CD. You can usually only add money to a CD once.

CD interest: Money your bank pays you on the balance of a CD, usually expressed as an annual percentage yield. Learn more about how interest works.

CD term length: The total time frame that a CD is open for. Some of the most common terms are three months, six months, one year, 18 months, three years and five years. Learn about choosing between short-term and long-term CDs.

🤓Nerdy Tip

Flipping the traditional trend, rates on one-year CDs lately have been higher than on five-year CDs.

APY: Annual percentage yield is a percentage that reflects the amount of money, or interest, you earn on a bank account in one year. It includes compound interest, which is the interest earned on both an account balance and previous interest. Learn about how APY works.

Compounding frequency: The number of times your bank pays interest, such as daily, monthly or annually. Learn more about compound interest.

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What happens if I withdraw a CD early?

Generally a CD has an early withdrawal penalty, which tends to range from a few months' to a year's worth of earned interest, depending on the bank and the CD term length. Longer term lengths usually have bigger penalties. These penalties occur only if you take out money before a CD term expires. Try our calculator to see what an early withdrawal penalty costs. If you want the flexibility of withdrawing early without a penalty, consider a no-penalty CD.

» Learn more: See our list of the best no-penalty CDs

What term length should you get?

The longer the term, the higher the rate tends to be. Terms typically range from three months to five years. Most have early withdrawal penalties, so be sure you won’t need the money before the term expires.

» Not sure how to open a CD? Here's a step-by-step guide to opening a CD account

How much interest will you earn on a CD?

This varies based on your deposit, CD rate and term length. For example, a $10,000 deposit in a five-year CD with 1.50% APY would earn around $770 in interest, while the same deposit in a five-year CD with 0.01% APY would earn only $5 in interest.

» Want to see other calculators? Check out our list of NerdWallet’s financial calculators

How to calculate CD interest

If you’d prefer to try your hand at calculating interest without a calculator, use the compound interest formula:

A = P(1 + r/n)^nt, where:

  • A = ending amount (this means original balance plus all interest earned after n years).

  • P = original balance (or your initial deposit, since there are typically no other contributions to CDs).

  • r = interest rate (as a decimal)*.

  • n = number of times interest is compounded per year (typically 365 for daily, 12 for monthly, 4 for quarterly).

  • t = time (in years).

Once you get a result for A, subtract P from A (A - P) to get the interest amount.

» Learn more: See our explainer on compound interest

*Note: Interest rate and APY are slightly different. To be more exact, use the interest rate in the formula.

How do CD rates work?

CD rates are usually quoted as an annual percentage yield, or APY, which is how much the account earns in one year including compound interest. Banks and credit unions generally compound interest monthly or daily. An interest rate is similar to APY, but it doesn't factor in compound interest. For more details, see our explainer on APY.

When will CD rates go up?

CD rates have begun to rise and likely will continue to do so, since the Federal Reserve raised its rate in March 2022. Federal Reserve actions are one factor in banks’ decisions to change rates. See historical CD rates.

See CD rates by term and type

Check out the best CD interest rates on certificates of deposit:

See CD rates by bank

If you want to see what specific banks offer, here’s a quick list of traditional and online banks’ CDs (and one brokerage’s offering):

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