Here's How Much $20,000 Would Earn in a 6-Month CD Right Now

Normally, short-term certificates of deposit (CDs) pay lower interest rates than long-term CDs. But that rule has been flipped on its head recently. In fact, 6-month CDs currently offer some of the highest rates you can find.

These high rates may not last long, either. Experts agree that the Federal Reserve is likely to lower interest rates in 2025, with Morningstar predicting a cut of 75 basis points by year-end.

Should you invest in 6-month CDs now? Let's look at how much you could earn, as well as some good reasons to open a CD -- or to put your money elsewhere.

How much would $20,000 earn in a 6-month CD now?

The annual percentage yield (APY) on 6-month CDs varies from one bank to the next. The golden standard is around 4.65%. Some regional credit unions offer slightly higher rates, but they often have strict membership requirements (for example, you may need to live in a certain state to join).

If you were to invest $20,000 in a 6-month CD with an APY of 4.65%, you'd earn $459.72 in interest when the CD matured. That's a solid return for a safe, FDIC-insured account.

Should you open a 6-month CD now?

CDs are a good choice for people who:

• Want a guaranteed return that's a bit higher than the APY offered by high-yield savings accounts
• Don't need to touch their money until the CD matures

If both of these are true, then now looks like a good time to invest in a 6-month CD. Interest rates may stay the same for a while, but there's a good chance they'll be cut sometime in 2025.

That said, high-yield savings accounts (HYSAs) offer nearly the same APY -- and they don't require you to lock up your money for six months. The best HYSAs pay as much as 4.50%.

At that rate, a $20,000 deposit would earn $455 -- only about $5 less than the best 6-month CDs.

Savings account APYs can change at any time, while CDs have fixed rates. However, they're unlikely to change much, if at all, over the next six months.

Want to earn 10 times the national average savings APY? Check out our list of the best high-yield savings accounts and start putting your money to work.

A higher-yielding option

If high growth is your top priority, then there are better options than a CD. The stock market has been rocky lately, but over the long term it has generated much higher returns than any CD. In fact, buying stocks during a market downturn can be smart, as you're getting in at a lower price and will benefit more from the recovery.

Investing in the stock market is one of the best ways to grow your wealth for big, long-term goals like retirement. If you haven't started, you may want to open a brokerage account and look for simple, diversified investments like an S&P 500 index fund. These funds mirror the performance of the S&P 500, which has gained an average of 10% per year since 1957.

Just make sure you don't invest money that you might need within the next five years. The best way to make money in the stock market is to buy shares of great companies and hold them for decades (or forever).