Spice Up Your Savings—Securely Reinvest your maturing share certificate!

When choosing your share certificate term, consider when you want to access your funds and any other reasons why you might need the money. Here are a few tips and tricks to help you get started:

• Check if there are any promotional share certificates offering great rates on certain terms for a limited time.
• Before you sign up for a long term certificate, make sure you have another source of emergency funds so you won’t need to access your share certificate before the maturity date.
• If you have enough money to make multiple opening deposits, consider a share certificate ladder strategy and open a short term, medium term, and long term certificate so you can enjoy the benefits of each one.

Share certificates offer several advantages over regular savings accounts, money markets, and even IRAs. Here’s what you need to know:

• They often earn higher dividend rates than other savings tools, especially if you choose a longer term or take advantage of any special promotions.
• Their term and early withdrawal penalty provide a good incentive for you to save and achieve your goals, whereas other high-dividend accounts like money markets let you withdraw funds easily.
• Compared to individual retirement accounts (IRAs), you can access your funds sooner and you get to choose when you access your funds, whereas IRAs tend to have more restrictions on withdrawals.

Like other credit union deposit accounts, you can relax knowing your certificate funds are insured by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) up to $250,000.

These two savings tools are the same, except they’re provided by different types of financial institutions. Credit unions often use the name share certificate because our members are part-owners who each own a share of the credit union. Certificate of deposit is the common name for this product from a bank.

Credit unions can pass revenue back to members in the form of higher rates on deposits, lower rates on loans, and reduced fees. Banks are usually accountable to outside stockholders.

The end of your term is known as the maturity date. When your share certificate matures, you have a few options:

• Withdraw your funds to spend as planned.
• Transfer your funds to another type of savings or investment account.
• Reinvest your funds in another share certificate term of your choice to safeguard your savings and continue building your future.

You will likely receive a notification that your term is ending and if you choose to do nothing, your funds may be automatically reinvested in a share certificate with the same term as you currently have.