Sexy and Dangerous: Avoid the 3.50% Toronto Dominion Callable Step-Up CD
Image Courtesy: Pexels

Sexy and Dangerous: Avoid the 3.50% Toronto Dominion Callable Step-Up CD

Rate information contained on this page may have changed. Please find latest cd rates.

TD Ameritrade is sending out notices to some of its clients offering a new callable step-up CD offered by Toronto Dominion, its parent.

This new product - which offers an initial 3.50% APY interest rate - is dramatically more sexy than their offerings just a few months ago which we discussed and recommended against here.

After two years, the newly-offered Toronto Dominion CD will pay 4.50% APY for years 3 and 4 and 5%, if it isn’t called away sooner by the issuer. The issuer has the right to call the CD any time after year 1.

BestCashCow has never liked brokered CDs. We recommended that they be avoided when rates where much lower and we basically recommend against them now for the same reason. Since they cannot be broken with the payment of an early withdrawal penalty, they represent a significant risk to anyone who may require earlier liquidity. Since this CD has a maximum maturity of 5 years, should you need to get out of it in the early years, you could take a real bath trying to find liquidity in a market that doesn’t exist (where TD Ameritrade is the only buyer). Should you die before the CD’s maturity, your heirs will likely inherit a fraction of what they would inherit were you to buy a straight 5-year CD.

Moreover, interest rates are presumably still rising and the Fed is likely poised to bring the Fed Funds rate above 3% by the end of 2019. If you must reach for yield, you can get 2.70% on a one-year CD and then have the liquidity in 12 months to find a new product with a higher rate.

But, we’ve just had an election that has left the US in an even worse place than we were immediately after the Russians handed Trump the Presidency 2 years ago. And, that opens up the prospect of falling rates. Should that happen, this product will be called away on the first possible call date in November 2019. While you may have brought in 80 basis points more than you would have made in the 1-year CD that pays 2.70%, you will not have been compensated for the risk that you took.

Sexy? Yes.

But, dangerous as hell.

Your better bet is to look at online one-year CDs.

Editor’s Note: The Toronto Dominion product is listed under CUSIP 89114QER5.

Ari Socolow
Ari Socolow: Ari Socolow is the Chief Economist and Editor-in-Chief at BestCashCow. He is particularly interested in issues relating to bank transparency and the climate crisis. Since co-founding BestCashCow in 2005, Ari has been frequently cited in the media as an expert on local and national savings accounts, CD products, mortgage and loan products and credit card rewards products.

Your code to embed this article on your website* :

*You are allowed to change only styles on the code of this iframe.

Today's Highest Online CD Rates

Bank Product Term Interest Rate (APY)
CFG Bank 1-Year 5.40% APY with $500 minimum
TotalDirect, a division of City National Bank of Florida 1-Year 5.35% APY with $25,000 minimum
Navy Federal Credit Union 1-Year 5.30% APY with $50 minimum
Dollar Savings Direct, a division of Emigrant Bank 3-Year 5.00% APY with $1,000 minimum
First Internet Bank of Indiana 3-Year 4.66% APY with $1,000 minimum
IncredibleBank 3-Year 4.58% APY with $1,000 minimum
First Internet Bank of Indiana 5-Year 4.55% APY with $1,000 minimum
BMO Alto, a division of Bank of Montreal Harris 5-Year 4.50% APY with no minimum
Popular Direct 5-Year 4.35% APY with $10,000 minimum

See More Online CD Rates →

Comments

  • J. C.

    January 06, 2019

    Wouldn't you just use this as an auto-hedge to the money that's already going to be invested in the 5-year range. Investing your fixed income solely in this type of vehicle would definitely be risky.

    Granted I would rather like the callable price a little higher than 100, like 102-103, but this is commonly used more as a hedge for the issuer in the event of rates dropping dramatically lower.

    Thank you for a write up on the product though!

  • Former website follower

    January 11, 2019

    "after the Russians handed Trump the Presidency 2 years ago." I may not be a Trump fan but this type of ridiculous, unnecessary comment places the writer in the "UFO conspiracy" category. Difficult to take seriously.

  • Vladimir Pootin

    August 04, 2019

    Good job RussiaN comrades. We rule USA....lol.

  • Adam Smith

    August 19, 2019

    Keep your site all about the money...…..your personal biases on politics undermines your credibility.

  • «
  • Page 1 of 1
  • »
Add your Comment

or use your BestCashCow account

or