CD Interest Shock

4205raymond

Couple CD,s maturing at 2.9% at Navy FCU. Now they want to give me .95%. If I take my money, pay taxes and run I will probably loose my star discount on real taxes in NYS. I need that interest to pay my taxes and .95% just ain't going to cut it. Did pretty good with Mutual Funds at Vanguard and bailed when I saw the bubble coming in 08. Too old for the stock market I think. Any ideas out there?-------------------Ray

grdad45

I had a CD mature at my CU, and they were going to renew at less than 1%. I cashed out, paid the income tax, and bought into an annuity paying 4% for 5 years. Ain't nobody using my $$ that cheap, I'll put it under my mattress first! 4% is the lowest I am willing to go, otherwise, I'll hold the cash. (or invest in guns and ammo)

truthful

You need solid advice from a financial advisor, not a bunch of strangers on a gun forum. Just make sure it is a fee-only advisor, not a salesperson in disguise. Or, for a start, and to avoid fees, just open an account at, say Fidelity, with zero dollars in it at first, then give them a call and ask to speak with an advisor as to what kinds of mutual funds to put in it considering your situation. You will be surprised at how many yields these days beat your 2.9%.

mark christian

truthful said:

You need solid advice from a financial advisor, not a bunch of strangers on a gun forum. 

That is one of the most accurate statements that I've read in this forum. I gave you a promote for that. 

mac10

there will be no real interest from banks for years   my cd i bought in oct last year was 2.75 for 3y now the same is .50

Bubba Jr.

When you find a good advisor, ask them about federal tax-free municipal bonds. We have a bunch paying between 4-5.5%. You won't have to pay federal tax on them, but you may be liable for state taxes. Low risk and a decent return on investment.

Joe

gruntled2

I'm getting 3% on my tax free bonds but I bought them some time ago & they are now worth quite a bit more than I paid. That's nice BUT if I sold them there would be taxes on the profit & then where would I put the money? I still have to pay Federal income tax on 85% of the interest because of the tax on Social Security but that's better than the 185% I have to pay otherwise. &^%^$*&

4205raymond

Did pretty well with Vangard no load Mutuals prior to 08 when i bailed. Actually made out better than a couple fin/adv were telling me. I am 77 now and shadows are lengthening for me i suppose. Don't feel like gambling on stock market anymore. If push comes to shove will cash out and stick it in mattress/safe and live off the principle. Bubba Jr. guess I need to study up on Tax Free Municiple Bonds. My uncle ran Ingersol Rand drilling equip. and was explosives expert. Quite a few towns went belly up and never paid the company he worked for. You see this happening now and then even the big cities going bankrupt. Mark, I never sell the guys short here on the "Forum". They may not be experts but can be very resourceful at times. No harm in reading what they have to say.----------Ray

Toolman286

Most of my funds are with a financial advisor, but the investment I like best is holding a mortgage. It started when I sold a rental house as-is & had to hold the mortgage. They put 1/3 down & then did a great job renovating it. They sold it for 3 times what they owed & payed it off, darn. But then they bought another fixer-upper & came to me for a mortgage. It's at 3.8% & the property is now worth 2 1/2 times what they owe, so it's very secure. I joke with them that I wouldn't hold it against them if I had to repo the property. 

bambihunter

I generally like precious metals. Gold (or silver depending on the amount), brass, and lead.

My wife does mutual funds. I had a bunch of different investments over thirty years and really barely broke even on many of them.

So, I decided from then on, I'd take a more active role in my financial future. The biggest thing we are doing is knocking our mortgage out as quickly as possible. We bought it ~9 year ago and at our current rate, we should have it paid off in 3 more years. We have no other debt. With our country not on the Gold Standard, our currency is based only on the faith in our country. My gut feeling is a lot of countries are losing faith with us. For instance, Germany wanted hundreds of tons of gold back from the USA. We negotiated, saying we needed 7 years. To me, that means we did not have it.

For my actual investments, I do firearms, the aforementioned precious metals, along with powder but that is more of a just in case.