Best 10-Year CD Rates for November 2023

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Apple Federal Credit Union – 4.00% APY

Term (months): 84 or 120
Minimum deposit: $500
Early withdrawal penalty: All interested earned, up to max of 36 months' worth
Membership: Anyone can join Apple Federal by signing up for a $20 membership in the Northern Virginia Athletic Directors, Administrators, and Coaches Association, as well as keeping at least $5 in a savings account.

Credit Human – 4.00% APY

Term (months): 84–120
Minimum deposit: $500
Early withdrawal penalty: Greater of $50 or 36 months of interest
Membership: Anyone can join Credit Human by agreeing to a complimentary membership in the nonprofit American Consumer Council and keeping at least $5 in a member savings account.

Discover Bank – 3.80% APY

Term (months): 84 or 120
Minimum deposit: $2,500
Early withdrawal penalty: 24 months of interest
About: In addition to its well-known credit card, Discover offers online-only banking products to consumers nationwide.

EmigrantDirect.com – 2.75% APY

Term (months): 60–120
Minimum deposit: $1,000
Early withdrawal penalty: 6 months of interest
About: EmigrantDirect.com is an online division of Emigrant Bank, a New York brick-and-mortar institution established in 1850.

Vio Bank – 2.75% APY

Term (months): 84 or 120
Minimum deposit: $500
Early withdrawal penalty: 3% of the amount withdrawn plus a $25 fee
About: Vio Bank is the online banking division of MidFirst Bank, an Oklahoma institution established in 1911 that is among the Top 100 largest U.S. banks.

MySavingsDirect – 2.00% APY

Term (months): 60–120
Minimum deposit: $1,000
Early withdrawal penalty: 6 months of interest
About: MySavingsDirect is an online division of Emigrant Bank, a New York institution with a history dating back to 1850.

Pros and Cons of a 10-Year CD

Pros

Locks in a fixed interest rate for 10 years
Offers completely predictable earnings
Is extremely safe
May offer a higher APY than a savings account or shorter-term CD

Cons

Ties up your money for a decade
Incurs a penalty if you have to withdraw early
Locks you into an interest rate that may later be unattractive

Pros Explained

Locks in a fixed interest rate for 10 years: Like all CDs, the rate you agree to is the rate you’ll enjoy for the entire CD term. And with a 10-year certificate, you can count on that return for an exceptionally long period.
Offers completely predictable earnings: Because the interest rate on your CD is fixed and guaranteed, you can calculate exactly how much you will earn over the 10-year term. There is no risk of lower returns or losing your principal.
Is extremely safe: CDs opened at FDIC banks or NCUA credit unions are federally insured in case the institution fails, meaning up to $250,000 of your deposits, per person and per institution, is protected.
May offer a higher APY than a savings account or shorter-term CD: In exchange for agreeing to not touch your funds for a very long time, 10-year CDs sometimes pay a higher rate than other savings or CD options. But this is highly dependent on the rate environment, and many times shorter CD terms, such as 4-year and 5-year CDs, will actually offer higher rates.

Cons Explained

Ties up your money for a decade: Ten 10 years is a very long time horizon for many savers, with plenty of unknowns on what interest rates will be years down the road or what you may want to do with the money over the next decade.
Incurs a penalty if you have to withdraw early: If you request to withdraw your funds before the CD's maturity date, the bank or credit union will impose an early withdrawal penalty that will reduce your earned interest.
Locks you into an interest rate that may later be unattractive: Predicting where interest rates are headed is difficult to do even six months or a year into the future, never mind a decade. If interest rates rise significantly in the years you are holding your 10-year CD, you may find you're earning an inferior rate on your money compared to what you could earn at a future point.

Alternatives to 10-Year CDs

For investors whose primary concern is preserving their principal, CDs are one of several options you can weigh. But if you want easier access to your money, you could instead put it into one of the best high-yield savings accounts or best money market accounts. Doing so allows you to withdraw and deposit your funds more or less anytime you want. The disadvantage, however, is that rates on these accounts are variable. That means they can go down at any time, unlike a CD rate that is fixed for the entire term.

To add a little more growth potential to your investment, diversified bond funds are another idea. While there's always a risk that bond returns could be negative from one year to the next, it's unlikely you'd lose principal over an entire decade in a bond fund—especially if you avoid high-yield, or "junk," bonds. With bonds, there's usually a trade-off between risk and reward; the higher the quality of the note (Treasury bonds being the most conservative), the less return you'll typically receive.

Investing in the stock market is also an option for long-term investments. The upside is that you can potentially earn considerably more with stocks than you can with a fixed-rate CD. The downside you're not guaranteed to earn anything at all. In fact, you could lose part or even all of your investment, making stock investments much riskier than a CD investment.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What Is a 10-Year CD?

A certificate of deposit, or CD, is a type of savings account that offers a fixed interest rate and requires you to keep money in the account for a certain length of time. The duration of the CD is called its term, and it can be anywhere from one month to 10 years.

CDs are considered safe investments because the interest rate is guaranteed for the duration of the certificate, and because the bank or credit union that issues them is generally federally insured.

Each institution sets its own CD rates, and they can vary widely. So it's important to compare the CD offerings at different banks and credit unions to make sure you're earning a competitive yield.

How Does a 10-Year CD Work?

Banks and credit unions offering a 10-year CD will publish the annual percentage yield (APY) they are currently offering. If you decide you are interested in that CD, you would open the CD with that institution and decide the amount of deposit you want to invest. The vast majority of CDs accept just one deposit at the time of opening the certificate, meaning you can't later make additional investments in that same CD.

Once the CD is opened, you just let it sit. The bank or credit union will issue monthly or quarterly statements that show the accrued interest that's been credited to your balance. Unless you request to withdraw the funds early (see below), you'll leave the CD balance in place until the maturity date. Sometime in advance of that, however, the bank or credit union will notify you of the impending maturity date, asking for your instructions on what to do with the funds coming out of the CD when it expires.

How Much Do 10-Year CDs Pay?

Banks and credit unions set their own interest rates, which vary from one institution to the next. The rates they're willing to offer reflect the current cost of borrowing, their economic outlook, and their need for deposit funds over different time periods.

Yields on short-term CDs tend to move in line with the federal funds rate, which is set by the Federal Reserve. However, the interest rate on products with longer maturities, such as a 10-year CD, also reflects the bank's long-term economic forecasts.

Most of the time, longer-duration CDs offer higher rates of return as an incentive for depositors to keep their money locked away for an extended period of time. However, that becomes less true with the 10-year CD term, as it is difficult to predict what the economy and the Fed will do over a 10-year time span. In such cases, it's possible to see yields "invert," with shorter-term CDs, like a 5-year term, actually paying more.

What Happens If I Need to Withdraw My Funds Early?

By opening a CD, you're agreeing to keep your money untouched until the certificate reaches maturity. Should you need to pull out funds early, you'll typically lose some or all of the interest that has accumulated in your account. On a 10-year CD, for instance, you could forfeit anywhere from six months to three years of interest, making a great case for leaving your account alone until the maturity date, if at all possible.

When opening any CD, it's important to inquire what the institution's early withdrawal penalty policy is, and it's especially critical given the long-term nature of a 10-year CD commitment. Not only is it important to know what the consequences will be if you need to change your mind, but knowing the penalty can also help you choose between two otherwise similar CDs.

Are 10-Year CDs Safe?

Unlike investing in stocks or bonds, putting your money in a CD will generate an entirely predictable return on your money. There is no uncertainty risk, and also no risk of losing your initial investment. In addition, if you open the CD at an FDIC bank or an NCUA credit union, you are federally insured on up to $250,000 in deposits—per person and per institution—in the unlikely event that the bank or credit union fails.

The predictability of earnings and the protection against institution failure make CDs one of the safest investments you can make.

Rate Collection Methodology Disclosure

Every business day, Investopedia tracks the rate data of more than 200 banks and credit unions that offer CDs to customers nationwide, and determines daily rankings of the top-paying certificates in every major term. To qualify for our lists, the institution must be federally insured (FDIC for banks, NCUA for credit unions), and the CD's minimum initial deposit must not exceed $25,000.

Banks must be available in at least 40 states. And while some credit unions require you to donate to a specific charity or association to become a member if you don't meet other eligibility criteria (e.g., you don't live in a certain area or work in a certain kind of job), we exclude credit unions whose donation requirement is $40 or more. For more about how we choose the best rates, read our full methodology.

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