CD Ladder Calculator

Why ladder instead of putting everything into the longest CD?

Two reasons — liquidity and rate-environment uncertainty.

Liquidity. A 5-year CD pays the highest rate but locks every dollar for five years. An emergency that forces an early withdrawal triggers a penalty (typically 6–12 months of interest on a 5-year CD). With a 5-rung 5-year ladder, one CD matures every year, so you have annual access to roughly 1/5 of your money without penalty.

Rate-environment uncertainty. If rates rise after you lock in a single 5-year CD, you're stuck at the lower rate for the full term. A ladder reinvests one rung each year at whatever the new 5-year rate is, so your average rate moves toward the prevailing rate over time.

How to read the calculator output

• Weighted-average APY: the dollar-weighted average of the per-rung APYs. This is what you'd earn on the full amount if all rungs ran their full term.
• Maturity schedule: when each rung matures and what its final balance is. Use this to plan major expenses around maturity dates, or to know when funds will be available.
• Total at maturity: the sum of all rungs' final balances. This is what your $X grows to if you let every rung run its term untouched.

Where to source per-rung rates

The default per-rung APYs in the calculator are illustrative starting values. Real CD rates vary by institution, term, and minimum deposit. For accurate planning, source rates from your chosen bank or brokerage's current rate sheet — Marcus, Discover, Synchrony, and most major brokerages publish full term-by-term tables. Brokered CDs (sold through Schwab, Fidelity, Vanguard) sometimes offer higher rates than the issuing bank lists directly.