Before you break your CD
Search your bank or credit union for CD withdrawal sources and reviewed penalty rules. If we haven’t verified the applicable terms, the calculator requires your own disclosure inputs.
8,431 matching institutions · Reviewed rules appear first
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Estimate a full principal withdrawal before maturity. Amounts stay in this page and are not sent to TFS. Your institution must confirm eligibility and the final redemption quote.
The decision behind the calculator
First, find the penalty in the agreement for your exact CD and opening date. A schedule published today may differ from the one that governs your account. Check whether the bank allows early withdrawal and whether the charge can reduce principal.
Then compare both choices at the same future date: what your current CD would be worth at maturity, and what the proceeds after its penalty could earn elsewhere by then. Use the contractual interest rate to estimate an interest-based penalty; use APY only for the future-growth comparison.
Suppose your agreement specifies 180 days of simple interest as the penalty, a 365-day basis, and a 4% contractual rate. With no interest available on withdrawal, the estimated charge is $197.26 if the bank permits it to reduce principal.
With one year left, a current 4% APY would grow $10,000 to about $10,400. Reinvesting the $9,802.74 proceeds at 5% APY would grow to about $10,292.88. In this example, holding wins by about $107.12.
Illustration only, not a bank-specific rule or quote. It assumes constant APYs, immediate reinvestment, and no taxes, transfer delays, or other fees.
Penalty periods, principal reductions, partial withdrawals, and maturity grace periods can differ within one bank. Current advertised terms may not apply to an older CD. We link to sources and withhold bank-specific defaults when verification expires or a source changes.
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