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CD Rate Interest Calculator
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When you look at the best CD rates, you will see that many of them are for periods other than 12 months. Some have 6, some have 18, and the bottom line is that you want to figure out how much money you’ll get for the money you deposit. Enter in the CD rate interest calculator. Here’s the information you’ll need:
- Interest rate APY (if you have APR, convert it with this APR APY Calculator)
- CD term (number of months)
- Amount deposited (no commas or dollar signs please)
- Compounding frequency (times per year) – 1 for annually, 12 for monthly, etc.
If you don’t have compounding frequency, don’t worry about it because changing that will only affect the interest earned value by a small amount. When in doubt, pick monthly compounding frequency.
(If you have the APY and the term is 12 months, the interest you’ll earn is simply the APY times the amount deposited)
CD Rate Interest Calculator
Here’s a handy calculator to help you calculate the amount you’ll earn:
For example, let’s say you wanted to know how much you’ll put in your pocket with a deposit of $10,000 into a 18-month 2.05% APY CD from Ally Bank. You would enter the following values into the calculator:
- CD Interest rate: 2.05
- CD term: 18
- Amount deposited: 10000
- Compounding frequency: 365
Click “Calculate CD Interest” and you’ll see that you’ll have earned $309.07 after 18 months. This is only a rough estimate (it’ll be off a little because of how the numbers are rounded) but should give you a good idea of what to expect. And don’t forget about taxes. 
Enjoy!
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Doesn’t APY already account for the compounding frequency? That would explain why, when I change the frequency, I still get the same answer.
Yes, which makes calculating for 12 months a not any different than straight multiplication.
Right, but even for longer terms, the frequency field is extraneous. If you asked for APR, then it would make sense to include the frequency field, but APY already accounts for that.
The APY accounts for that for 12 months, but for 18 you don’t just cut the APY in half and apply it to the extra 6 months. The period still matters because you have to bring it down to APR and then calculate it across the number of months the CD is valid for.
Ah, good point.
This is nice and all, but can you add some lines to the equation to factor in taxes and inflation so we get a net-net return.
4% apy CD, 12 months-taxes-inflation= negative what?
$605.96-20% for federal taxes-3% for state taxes-4% simple inflation= what number. A negative number?
Taxes and inflation are outside the scope and purpose of this calculator. Inflation is also something that’s constantly changing, I don’t think most users of the calculator will be concerned with looking up inflation rates before making their decisions. CDs are just part of one’s investment strategy, the safe part.