CD discussion thread

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CD discussion thread

Post by indexfundfan »

I would like to start a thread to share CD deals that are available nationwide (not just regionally).

One current deal is from PSECU (PENNSYLVANIA STATE EMPLOYEES CREDIT UNION). This credit union has been offering their special CDs since August 2019 : https://www.psecu.com/banking/certificates

24mo @ 3.00%, EWP 90 days
36mo @ 3.25%, EWP 180 days
60mo @ 3.00%, EWP 180 days
EWP = early withdrawal penalty

o PSECU is a member of NCUA, which provides insurance for the deposits. See https://mapping.ncua.gov/SingleResult.a ... IsCorpCU=0
o Eligibility : Anyone in the US can qualify with a $10 payment for membership in the Pennsylvania Recreation and Park Society.
o Hard credit pull reported on Experian on new membership.
o Membership must first be approved and money transferred to PSECU before you can open the CD. It can take up to two days to get membership approved.
o Each CD has an addon option whereby you can schedule periodic (e.g. monthly) contributions to the CD. The addon option, if desired, must be added within the first 30 days from CD opening. Thereafter, it can only be reduced or cancelled; it cannot be increased.
o CD rates are generally updated only on Monday mornings.

Here are the yields if you happen to break the CD before maturity.

https://www.depositaccounts.com/tools/e ... alties=3,6

PS. This thread is about discussing CD deals. It is not about whether bond funds would be more suitable compared to CDs.
Last edited by indexfundfan on Fri Apr 29, 2022 6:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Best CD rates thread

Post by Rob5TCP »

KevinM has contributed quite a bit over the past few years on CD's.
Additionally he compared risk adjusted comparisons of CD's vs. Bonds.
Quite useful at the time.
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Re: Best CD rates thread

Post by mav12 »

Rob do you have a link to the Kevin's posts? Thank you
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Re: Best CD rates thread

Post by Rob5TCP »

He made so many. Much were applicable to a time period where CD's presented a much better risk-reward ratio.


You can run through some of his posts from the past year below:

https://www.google.com/search?q=KevinM+ ... 37&bih=881
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Re: Best CD rates thread

Post by barber »

The Early Retirement Forum has an ongoing post
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Re: Best CD rates thread

Post by EvelynTroy »

mav12 wrote: Tue Oct 08, 2019 12:34 am Rob do you have a link to the Kevin's posts? Thank you
Kevin's blog is here - it is has not been updated, but a wealth of information, in particular for those new to bond and CD investing. Its very good tutorial type writing.

https://www.kevinoninvesting.com/

Evelyn
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Re: Best CD rates thread

Post by EvelynTroy »

I didn't offer a CD offering to the discussion, just thinking anyone could go to depositaccounts.com and see the best rates depending on their needs.

I will offer the PSECU (PENNSYLVANIA STATE EMPLOYEES CREDIT UNION) promotion noted above - I completed the application for the share account Mon. afternoon, the account was approved this morning around 9 a.m. I was able to then get my user ID and password and view my account.
It was all seamless and efficient. I needed to phone twice for questions and once real person answered promptly, the other time on hold quite awhile - being on hold is to be expected when these promotions are going on. The reps. were polite, professional, and helpful. I felt like their technology for opening accounts and doing what you require is very good.
Unfortunately, I couldn't fund my savings account today in order to purchase the CD - forgot I should have sold Schwab Money Market shares and put proceeds in my cash account yesterday, so now it will need to settle before I can access those funds.

But so far so good with PSECU - no glitches, hangups or frustrations. This is quite a nice CD deal.
Evelyn
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Re: Best CD rates thread

Post by indexfundfan »

PSECU CD's addon option allows you to add money periodically to the CD. Any money added will earn the APY of the CD.

I am using the addon option to add money to the CD monthly. I thought I would share what I learnt.

o Money needs be available in the source account the day before (because the money is transferred early in the morning of the specified day).
o The source account must be one of your accounts (e.g. savings or checking) at PSECU.
o If there is insufficient funds in the source account, the transfer will wipe out the entire balance in the account. If the source happens to be your PSECU checking account, beware of possible overdrafts.
o Because the transfer is internal to PSECU, money will be transferred even on weekends.

I have set up the addon so that when the Marcus promotion matures next month, I can have the proceeds go into the PSECU CD.
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Re: Best CD rates thread

Post by suf »

Anyone joined the PA Recreation & Park Society? How long did that take? Looks like the application has to go via regular mail.
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Re: Best CD rates thread

Post by indexfundfan »

suf wrote: Tue Oct 08, 2019 2:55 pm Anyone joined the PA Recreation & Park Society? How long did that take? Looks like the application has to go via regular mail.
You don't have to join separately. It's part of the PSECU opening process (check the BOX when prompted that you want to join PRPS during the application).
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Re: Best CD rates thread

Post by protagonist »

Rob5TCP wrote: Mon Oct 07, 2019 8:41 pm KevinM has contributed quite a bit over the past few years on CD's.
Additionally he compared risk adjusted comparisons of CD's vs. Bonds.
Quite useful at the time.
+1
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Re: Best CD rates thread

Post by EvelynTroy »

suf wrote: Tue Oct 08, 2019 2:55 pm Anyone joined the PA Recreation & Park Society? How long did that take? Looks like the application has to go via regular mail.
As indexfundfan pointed out, joining is part of the process right online - no need to go to the Recreation & Park Soc. website join that, then go back to the PSECU website and prove you joined. Its really nifty I thought. Its $20 but PSECU pays half - so when you are applying for your share account $10 goes to joining the Park Society, plus $5 to open the account. Close the account and you can get your $5 returned.

Thanks indexfundfan - thanks for the heads up about the add-on. My question - do the terms of the CD start-over each time you make an add-on. Say you added on Nov. 1, 2019 - would your CD terms re-set say for the 24 months starting again on Nov. 1, 2019?

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Re: Best CD rates thread

Post by indexfundfan »

EvelynTroy wrote: Tue Oct 08, 2019 3:14 pm My question - do the terms of the CD start-over each time you make an add-on. Say you added on Nov. 1, 2019 - would your CD terms re-set say for the 24 months starting again on Nov. 1, 2019?
No, it does not change. The maturity date and APY stay the same.
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Re: Best CD rates thread

Post by indexfundfan »

protagonist wrote: Tue Oct 08, 2019 3:11 pm
Rob5TCP wrote: Mon Oct 07, 2019 8:41 pm KevinM has contributed quite a bit over the past few years on CD's.
Additionally he compared risk adjusted comparisons of CD's vs. Bonds.
Quite useful at the time.
+1
I have benefited from Kevin's posts too. And not to forget his comparisons which MMF has the best after-tax return.
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Re: Best CD rates thread

Post by EvelynTroy »

indexfundfan wrote: Tue Oct 08, 2019 3:17 pm
EvelynTroy wrote: Tue Oct 08, 2019 3:14 pm My question - do the terms of the CD start-over each time you make an add-on. Say you added on Nov. 1, 2019 - would your CD terms re-set say for the 24 months starting again on Nov. 1, 2019?
No, it does not change. The maturity date and APY stay the same.
Thanks. I'm going to do the add-on as well, in this low interest rate environment - the add-on for me is a good idea for any excess cash - don't have to think thru anything, just have it go into the CD. Nice.
Evelyn
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Re: Best CD rates thread

Post by Mitchell777 »

In addition to a hard pull at Experian, it's a hard pull at ChexSystems.
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Re: Best CD rates thread

Post by MikeG62 »

EvelynTroy wrote: Tue Oct 08, 2019 1:15 pm I didn't offer a CD offering to the discussion, just thinking anyone could go to depositaccounts.com and see the best rates depending on their needs.

I will offer the PSECU (PENNSYLVANIA STATE EMPLOYEES CREDIT UNION) promotion noted above - I completed the application for the share account Mon. afternoon, the account was approved this morning around 9 a.m. I was able to then get my user ID and password and view my account.
It was all seamless and efficient. I needed to phone twice for questions and once real person answered promptly, the other time on hold quite awhile - being on hold is to be expected when these promotions are going on. The reps. were polite, professional, and helpful. I felt like their technology for opening accounts and doing what you require is very good.
Unfortunately, I couldn't fund my savings account today in order to purchase the CD - forgot I should have sold Schwab Money Market shares and put proceeds in my cash account yesterday, so now it will need to settle before I can access those funds.

But so far so good with PSECU - no glitches, hangups or frustrations. This is quite a nice CD deal.
Evelyn
I too joined PSECU last week to take advantage of the CD rates. Did it all in "one day" - unfroze my Experian CR and ChexSystems account first, then opened the share account online (including supplying additional info requested by e-mails), then funded the account by wire transfer from Fidelity and lastly opened two CD's - one at 24-months and one at 36-months. Like Indexfundfan, I will be taking advantage of the add-on feature to move the funds I have sitting in Marcus (from the July bonus offer) to these CD's.

During the account opening process I called in every time I submitted or completed additional requested steps to ensure they received what I submitted and to ask if they needed anything else. The time to open the share account from start to finish was around 1 hour (including the e-mails, additional submission of information and general back and forth). Then two hours to transfer the funds and maybe 5 minutes to open the CD's. I would add that everyone I spoke to at PSECU (spoke to rep's in three different departments - new members, certificates and electronic funds transfers) were very pleasant an knowledgable. Each was able to answer all questions related to their area of expertise without the need to place me on hold. That was a refreshing change.

On Deposit Accounts, someone posted it took them a week to open their account. Either PSECU is being flooded with new account requests or there was something unique to this person's application which slowed things down.
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Re: Best CD rates thread

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MikeG62 wrote: Wed Oct 09, 2019 8:51 am I too joined PSECU last week to take advantage of the CD rates. Did it all in "one day" - unfroze my Experian CR and ChexSystems account first, then opened the share account online (including supplying additional info requested by e-mails), then funded the account by wire transfer from Fidelity and lastly opened two CD's - one at 24-months and one at 36-months. Like Indexfundfan, I will be taking advantage of the add-on feature to move the funds I have sitting in Marcus (from the July bonus offer) to these CD's.

During the account opening process I called in every time I submitted or completed additional requested steps to ensure they received what I submitted and to ask if they needed anything else. The time to open the share account from start to finish was around 1 hour (including the e-mails, additional submission of information and general back and forth). Then two hours to transfer the funds and maybe 5 minutes to open the CD's. I would add that everyone I spoke to at PSECU (spoke to rep's in three different departments - new members, certificates and electronic funds transfers) were very pleasant an knowledgable. Each was able to answer all questions related to their area of expertise without the need to place me on hold. That was a refreshing change.

On Deposit Accounts, someone posted it took them a week to open their account. Either PSECU is being flooded with new account requests or there was something unique to this person's application which slowed things down.
It's amazing you did it in an hour. It took two days for PSECU to approve my application, but that was in early September when the offer was new and they were probably swarmed.

A word of caution using Fidelity's free wire. The cash to fund the CD was all sitting at Vanguard, so I first ACH the cash to Fidelity in order to use their free wire (it would have taken much longer to send directly from Vanguard to PSECU). Although the two wires went out successfully, a month later Fidelity locked my account. Apparently Fidelity didn't like the fact that I had just used them for the free wire service. I had to call in and was asked to explain the transactions before they unlock the account. So now I am wary if I had to use Fidelity's wire service again.
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Re: Best CD rates thread

Post by EvelynTroy »

I funded my PSECU savings account and purchased the CD this morning. I had to wait for Money Market funds I sold at Schwab to settle. But all very smooth, and efficient. A pleasure doing business with PSECU.
I noticed that on depositaccounts too that it took that person a week to open and fund - must be unique situation.
I did ask a rep yesterday out of curiosity if they were swamped with applications because of the promotion. She said, they were caught up, but had been swamped.
MikeG62 - glad your process went so quick and efficient.
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Re: Best CD rates thread

Post by indexfundfan »

EvelynTroy wrote: Wed Oct 09, 2019 9:17 am I funded my PSECU savings account and purchased the CD this morning. I had to wait for Money Market funds I sold at Schwab to settle. But all very smooth, and efficient. A pleasure doing business with PSECU.
I noticed that on depositaccounts too that it took that person a week to open and fund - must be unique situation.
I did ask a rep yesterday out of curiosity if they were swamped with applications because of the promotion. She said, they were caught up, but had been swamped.
MikeG62 - glad your process went so quick and efficient.
Evelyn
Evelyn, how did you move your money from Schwab to PSECU?
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Re: Best CD rates thread

Post by EvelynTroy »

Evelyn, how did you move your money from Schwab to PSECU?
By wire transfer - I get 3 free wires a quarter.
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Re: Best CD rates thread

Post by Chesterfield »

It took me 1 week and I followed Mike's steps too by calling/checking email constantly. I applied app Tue at 8PM last week and completed CD on Tue AM (basically 1 week later).

I was just waiting for PSECU b/c I uploaded all the required docs immediately and also called in every day. I received account # and pin # on Monday so really the earliest I could open/fund CD was on Monday.

My wire didn't get credited at PSECU until Tue since wire $ hit psecu after 4P same day.
Last edited by Chesterfield on Wed Oct 09, 2019 1:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Best CD rates thread

Post by MikeG62 »

indexfundfan wrote: Wed Oct 09, 2019 9:07 am
MikeG62 wrote: Wed Oct 09, 2019 8:51 am I too joined PSECU last week to take advantage of the CD rates. Did it all in "one day" - unfroze my Experian CR and ChexSystems account first, then opened the share account online (including supplying additional info requested by e-mails), then funded the account by wire transfer from Fidelity and lastly opened two CD's - one at 24-months and one at 36-months. Like Indexfundfan, I will be taking advantage of the add-on feature to move the funds I have sitting in Marcus (from the July bonus offer) to these CD's.

During the account opening process I called in every time I submitted or completed additional requested steps to ensure they received what I submitted and to ask if they needed anything else. The time to open the share account from start to finish was around 1 hour (including the e-mails, additional submission of information and general back and forth). Then two hours to transfer the funds and maybe 5 minutes to open the CD's. I would add that everyone I spoke to at PSECU (spoke to rep's in three different departments - new members, certificates and electronic funds transfers) were very pleasant an knowledgable. Each was able to answer all questions related to their area of expertise without the need to place me on hold. That was a refreshing change.

On Deposit Accounts, someone posted it took them a week to open their account. Either PSECU is being flooded with new account requests or there was something unique to this person's application which slowed things down.
It's amazing you did it in an hour. It took two days for PSECU to approve my application, but that was in early September when the offer was new and they were probably swarmed.
I was worried the offer could get pulled any day (even though they told me they only update rates once each week on Monday's). So I called every time I completed the required steps or submitted what they asked for. This was to make sure (a) they received what I sent and it was legible and (b) to ask if there was anything more they needed. Each call was into the new members department and the rep could see what I submitted. Also I was talking to the person or department responsible for signing off on that step and initiating the next one. This was all done last Wednesday. Yeah, I'm a bit anal, but given I am retired I was determined to not allow time to pass and the offer to expire before I could get it set up and funded. :wink:
indexfundfan wrote: Wed Oct 09, 2019 9:07 am A word of caution using Fidelity's free wire. The cash to fund the CD was all sitting at Vanguard, so I first ACH the cash to Fidelity in order to use their free wire (it would have taken much longer to send directly from Vanguard to PSECU). Although the two wires went out successfully, a month later Fidelity locked my account. Apparently Fidelity didn't like the fact that I had just used them for the free wire service. I had to call in and was asked to explain the transactions before they unlock the account. So now I am wary if I had to use Fidelity's wire service again.
This is interesting. I just checked my Fidelity account and see that I have links to several different banks. All show as active and ready to "Transfer Money/Shares by ETF", with the exception of PSECU which shows as active and ready to "Transfer Money/Shares by Wire". I did the initial funding by wire last Wednesday. Earlier this week I added PSECU to my list of external accounts. I am pretty sure I did it under the "Link a Bank for EFT" section and this is how it shows up.

It is interesting since when I called Fidelity to discuss doing a wire to PSECU (just wanted to understand the steps) I was told I could wire to any bank as long as there was a routing and account number. There was no prenote process to send a wire (as there is with an ACH). So therefore in theory no need to "Link a Bank for Wires" even though looking now I see that as an option on the Fidelity website. I plan to send additional money to PSECU next week and again in Nov (from Marcus to Fidelity and then from Fidelity to PSECU) so I'd hate to have them lock my account (as happened to you). Maybe I'll call the PC group number and ask why PSECU is not linked for ACH transfers.
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Re: Best CD rates thread

Post by Chesterfield »

I plan to send additional money to PSECU next week and again in Nov (from Marcus to Fidelity and then from Fidelity to PSECU) so I'd hate to have them lock my account (as happened to you). Maybe I'll call the PC group number and ask why PSECU is not linked for ACH transfers.


MikeG62,
Why don't you use Marcus' free wiring service instead? I did that, but it took Marcus 1 full day before money available INSIDE psecu. Marcus called me to verify if PSECU was a personal account/business account and then got me on the phone w/ 3 way conference w/ PSECU. STRANGE. Not sure other institutions do this as I usually don't wire $. Because of that verification process (2:40P) the wire didn't hit PSECU until after 4pm, which is psecu's cut off time for same day. The money was available the at opening the next morning (when I checked at 8:15A) for me to buy/fund CD though.

Then I did 2nd wire transfer from Marcus to Psecu at 10AM, & this time it reached 4pm same day but still not instantly, more like 5-6Hrs. With Marcus, free wire service they officially stated that it could take from instantly to 3 days.

How long did it take w/ Fidelity typically? I have never done wire w/ Fidelity before. Is it quick and instant? Thanks.
Last edited by Chesterfield on Wed Oct 09, 2019 1:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Best CD rates thread

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Chesterfield wrote: Wed Oct 09, 2019 1:18 pm How long did it take w/ Fidelity typically? I have never done wire w/ Fidelity before. Is it quick and instant? Thanks.
From my notes, the Fidelity wire was very fast. After I submitted the wire request at Fidelity, it sat with them for about half an hour before it was sent out. It took PSECU about 10 minutes to post the money to my account. So, all in all, it was less than an hour.

I did speak to someone from the PSECU wire department, and the rep told me that they process wires the whole day as they come in, M to F until 4pm ET. Anything after 4pm will be processed and posted the next day.

But as I note earlier, Fidelity apparently frowns on you using their free wire if the money was not already sitting with them for some time and could lock your account. But maybe private clients will get better treatment (which I am not).
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Re: Best CD rates thread

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MikeG62 wrote: Wed Oct 09, 2019 12:41 pm I was worried the offer could get pulled any day (even though they told me they only update rates once each week on Monday's). So I called every time I completed the required steps or submitted what they asked for. This was to make sure (a) they received what I sent and it was legible and (b) to ask if there was anything more they needed. Each call was into the new members department and the rep could see what I submitted. Also I was talking to the person or department responsible for signing off on that step and initiating the next one. This was all done last Wednesday. Yeah, I'm a bit anal, but given I am retired I was determined to not allow time to pass and the offer to expire before I could get it set up and funded. :wink:
Sometimes, if the funding is already in process, the credit union would still honor the rate.

This happened to me when I wanted to get on AgFed's 18mo 3.0% CD last month. By the time my account was approved, AgFed CU had pulled the offer. I called them and they told me to just send the money and they will honor the rate, and they did.
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Re: Best CD rates thread

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MikeG62 wrote: Wed Oct 09, 2019 12:41 pm It is interesting since when I called Fidelity to discuss doing a wire to PSECU (just wanted to understand the steps) I was told I could wire to any bank as long as there was a routing and account number. There was no prenote process to send a wire (as there is with an ACH). So therefore in theory no need to "Link a Bank for Wires" even though looking now I see that as an option on the Fidelity website. I plan to send additional money to PSECU next week and again in Nov (from Marcus to Fidelity and then from Fidelity to PSECU) so I'd hate to have them lock my account (as happened to you). Maybe I'll call the PC group number and ask why PSECU is not linked for ACH transfers.
I think the bean counters at Fidelity watch your wire transfers closely but not ACH. Your Marcus to Fidelity and then from Fidelity to PSECU transfer would be under scrutiny if you use a wire. I would use ACH if possible. But if you have private client status at Fidelity, then you might be OK.

Fidelity now offers same day ACH for amounts not more than $25,000 if submitted before 8am ET.

For me, PSECU is now linked to my Vanguard account, so I can now send money directly to PSECU from Vanguard. For the initial funding, I had to use Fidelity to wire the money because it takes one week for Vanguard to link a new external account.
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Re: Best CD rates thread

Post by Chesterfield »

I think the bean counters at Fidelity watch your wire transfers closely but not ACH. Your Marcus to Fidelity and then from Fidelity to PSECU transfer would be under scrutiny if you use a wire. I would use ACH if possible. But if you have private client status at Fidelity, then you might be OK.

Fidelity now offers same day ACH for amounts not more than $25,000 if submitted before 8am ET.

For me, PSECU is now linked to my Vanguard account, so I can now send money directly to PSECU from Vanguard. For the initial funding, I had to use Fidelity to wire the money because it takes one week for Vanguard to link a new external account.
Hi Indexfund,
I assume you already have the money available at Vanguard and/or Fidelity for the wire? Typically, isn't there a hold on the new $? Say I want to use their free service, so ACH enough $$ to Vanguard/Fidelity, isn't there a 2-5 days hold on those newly ACHed $ so I cannot wire right away. Can you share how I make my ACH funds into Fidelity/Vanguard available immediately? I don't use Vanguard nor Fidelity as my main bank, so most is at another FI. Thanks.
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Re: Best CD rates thread

Post by indexfundfan »

Chesterfield wrote: Wed Oct 09, 2019 1:55 pm
I think the bean counters at Fidelity watch your wire transfers closely but not ACH. Your Marcus to Fidelity and then from Fidelity to PSECU transfer would be under scrutiny if you use a wire. I would use ACH if possible. But if you have private client status at Fidelity, then you might be OK.

Fidelity now offers same day ACH for amounts not more than $25,000 if submitted before 8am ET.

For me, PSECU is now linked to my Vanguard account, so I can now send money directly to PSECU from Vanguard. For the initial funding, I had to use Fidelity to wire the money because it takes one week for Vanguard to link a new external account.
Hi Indexfund,
I assume you already have the money available at Vanguard and/or Fidelity for the wire? Typically, isn't there a hold on the new $ say I want to use their free service, and then ACH in to Vanguard/Fidelity there's a 2-4 days hold on those before I can even use them to wire out?
For a transfer from Vanguard to Fidelity, there is no hold if I PUSH the money, i.e. I submit the transfer from the Vanguard website. It's the norm at all the financial institutions I know. However, there will be a hold if I submit a PULL (submitted from the Fidelity website).

The reason for the above is due to how the ACH system is implemented.
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Re: Best CD rates thread

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Chesterfield wrote: Wed Oct 09, 2019 1:55 pmCan you share how I make my ACH funds into Fidelity/Vanguard available immediately?
You need to submit the transfer from your bank's website, and hope that your bank supports next-day ACH.

But not all banks do this, and some even withhold your money on the way out (e.g. Ally is notorious for this).
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Re: Best CD rates thread

Post by Ricchan »

I signed up for a PSECU account on Monday. It was approved and activated today (Wednesday). I didn't call or do anything special.

Right now I'm waiting for my banks to verify my PSECU account through trial deposits, so I can eventually ACH money to PSECU to fund the CDs.
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Re: Best CD rates thread

Post by Chesterfield »

You need to submit the transfer from your bank's website, and hope that your bank supports next-day ACH.
What bank is good that you rec'd for excellent ACH services and rates? Maybe I'll sign up and use that as my hub instead? The current one I have (Northern) offers 1 day ACH to Fidelity/Vanguard if same day request by 2/4P I cannot recall, but I can only link THREE (3) external accounts. Looking for reliably high & competitive rates and can have more than 3 external links. Thanks.
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Re: Best CD rates thread

Post by indexfundfan »

Chesterfield wrote: Wed Oct 09, 2019 2:15 pm
You need to submit the transfer from your bank's website, and hope that your bank supports next-day ACH.
What bank is good that you rec'd for excellent ACH services and rates? Maybe I'll sign up and use that as my hub instead? The current one I have (Northern) offers 1 day ACH to Fidelity/Vanguard if same day request by 2/4P I cannot recall, but I can only link THREE (3) external accounts. Looking for reliably high & competitive rates and can have more than 3 external links. Thanks.
I have been searching for one too, but did not find a perfect bank.

Alliant comes pretty close, next-day ACH but has $25k outgoing limit. Incoming pulls I think are available immediately.
Amex savings has next-day ACH and very high ACH limits but holds incoming funds for 5 days I believe.

I wanted to use Fidelity as a hub but they locked my account when I sent two wires out last month. So I am kind of back to the drawing board.

Maybe others can chime in?
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Re: Best CD rates thread

Post by MikeG62 »

Chesterfield wrote: Wed Oct 09, 2019 1:18 pm
I plan to send additional money to PSECU next week and again in Nov (from Marcus to Fidelity and then from Fidelity to PSECU) so I'd hate to have them lock my account (as happened to you). Maybe I'll call the PC group number and ask why PSECU is not linked for ACH transfers.


MikeG62,
Why don't you use Marcus' free wiring service instead? I did that, but it took Marcus 1 full day before money available INSIDE psecu. Marcus called me to verify if PSECU was a personal account/business account and then got me on the phone w/ 3 way conference w/ PSECU. STRANGE. Not sure other institutions do this as I usually don't wire $. Because of that verification process (2:40P) the wire didn't hit PSECU until after 4pm, which is psecu's cut off time for same day. The money was available the at opening the next morning (when I checked at 8:15A) for me to buy/fund CD though.

Then I did 2nd wire transfer from Marcus to Psecu at 10AM, & this time it reached 4pm same day but still not instantly, more like 5-6Hrs. With Marcus, free wire service they officially stated that it could take from instantly to 3 days.

How long did it take w/ Fidelity typically? I have never done wire w/ Fidelity before. Is it quick and instant? Thanks.
The wire out of Fidelity was free and is supposed to post within one to three hours. I think mine posted within two hours.

Given I now have PSECU linked to Fidelity (on the Fidelity side) it feels like a lot of work to set up the linkage between Marcus and PSECU - based upon what you went through. I'd add in as well that this will likely be a one-off transfer from Marcus to PSECU as I would simply be moving funds from the OLS account (tied up now for the July bonus program). I have no other plans to transfer funds from Marcus to PSECU outside of this one transaction.

BTW, I have previously linked my Marcus account to my Bank of America account (and am currently in prenote status on the Fidelity side with Marcus) and have ACH'd funds from Marcus to BofA the very next business day (as I can also do from Ally and Fidelity to BofA). In fact, I can same day ACH funds from Fidelity to BofA if initiated in the morning.

Could you have set up a simple ACH link between Marcus and PSECU instead of a wire? Would that have been easier? I know setting up the link between Marcus and BofA (on the Marcus side) was quick and easy - no phone calls required.
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Re: Best CD rates thread

Post by Chesterfield »

Mike,
You don't have to link psecu to Marcus AT ALL to be able to use Marcus' free wire to Psecu. At least I never did.

The only thing was psecu called me to verify the wire request a few hours later b/c they wanted to know whether psecu was personal/business and 3 way call to ensure that psecu's was my account. By the time the wire hit psecu it was past 4P cut off time. Marcus sent it out at 5P.

I transferred $30K, but Marcus told me they don't always verify like how they did to me. The 2nd wire ($50K) request to psecu from Marcus following day took 4-5hrs to get to psecu WITHOUT any incident.
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Re: Best CD rates thread

Post by MikeG62 »

indexfundfan wrote: Wed Oct 09, 2019 2:23 pm
I wanted to use Fidelity as a hub but they locked my account when I sent two wires out last month. So I am kind of back to the drawing board.

Maybe others can chime in?
OK, I called the Fidelity PC group to discuss this situation with wire lockdowns. I was told that under the anti-money laundering rules, banks are supposed to scrutinize any situations where a client moves money in from one source and immediately transfers it out to another place. This applies to both wires and ACH transfers by the way.

She did not say what the cutoff on the dollar amount is which trips the investigation, but I assume this is not for small three or four figure amounts. My guess is for five figure amounts (or greater) the flags go up. She said each bank has its own policy for when they step in to stop the wire and call the customer. She said since Fidelity has a 100% fraud guarantee, they tend to be on the more conservative side when it comes to putting a hold on the transfer and contacting the client. She indicated that the length of time one has been a customer comes into play as does the size of the clients account as well as past transfer activity. She ended by saying I may be able to do two or three in a row and not get flagged, but maybe not. Said it would be resolved through a quick call with Fidelity explaining why I was moving these funds in this manner. All kind of makes sense to me. I asked if I could call them prior to initiating the wire and explain what I am doing to grease the skids. She said, sure that would work. So I may just do that. Takes all of 5 minutes.

Interestingly, I passed sizable five and six figure amounts through my BofA account in July and August. Transfers were in round amounts too - $25k, $50K and $150K. BofA said nothing to me at all. Now I did not initiate the transfers from the BofA side. They were pushed into BofA from a bank/broker and then pulled from BofA by another bank or broker. Transfers happened sometimes all in one day and other times the very next day. So a second data point from another financial institution. Maybe the fact that BofA did not do the pulling or pushing had an impact? Maybe BofA does not have a 100% fraud guarantee?

Also, while I had her on the phone I asked why PSECU shows as ready to transfer "by wire" and not "by ACH" in my linked banks. She told me that the link I set up was for a wire and not an ACH - as I had thought or intended to do. :oops: She said no worries though as for outbound transfers there is no difference between the two, except that the wire will post a bit quicker. However, I cannot initiate a wire "pull" on Fidelity's site. Wire's are limited only to transfers out. So once I m done moving funds from Fidelity to PSECU, I will link PSECU for ACH transfers. This will take care of the situation for when the CD's mature and I may want to move the money elsewhere.
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Re: Best CD rates thread

Post by MikeG62 »

Chesterfield wrote: Wed Oct 09, 2019 2:51 pm Mike,
You don't have to link psecu to Marcus AT ALL to be able to use Marcus' free wire to Psecu. At least I never did.
Ok, makes sense - exactly what I did with the wire I sent from Fidelity to PSECU.
Chesterfield wrote: Wed Oct 09, 2019 2:51 pm The only thing was psecu called me to verify the wire request a few hours later b/c they wanted to know whether psecu was personal/business and 3 way call to ensure that psecu's was my account. By the time the wire hit psecu it was past 4P cut off time. Marcus sent it out at 5P.

I transferred $30K, but Marcus told me they don't always verify like how they did to me. The 2nd wire ($50K) request to psecu from Marcus following day took 4-5hrs to get to psecu WITHOUT any incident.

I don't understand why PSECU would call you to verify whether your PSECU account was business or personal. Did you mean Marcus called to verify the nature of the PSECU account or that PSECU called to verify the nature of the Marcus account? Sounds odd.

No such calls were made WRT to Fidelity wire - similar to what happened with your second wire.
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Re: Best CD rates thread

Post by Chesterfield »

You’re correct, I meant Marcus.
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Re: Best CD rates thread

Post by indexfundfan »

MikeG62 wrote: Wed Oct 09, 2019 2:57 pm OK, I called the Fidelity PC group to discuss this situation with wire lockdowns. I was told that under the anti-money laundering rules, banks are supposed to scrutinize any situations where a client moves money in from one source and immediately transfers it out to another place. This applies to both wires and ACH transfers by the way.

She did not say what the cutoff on the dollar amount is which trips the investigation, but I assume this is not for small three or four figure amounts. My guess is for five figure amounts (or greater) the flags go up. She said each bank has its own policy for when they step in to stop the wire and call the customer. She said since Fidelity has a 100% fraud guarantee, they tend to be on the more conservative side when it comes to putting a hold on the transfer and contacting the client. She indicated that the length of time one has been a customer comes into play as does the size of the clients account as well as past transfer activity. She ended by saying I may be able to do two or three in a row and not get flagged, but maybe not. Said it would be resolved through a quick call with Fidelity explaining why I was moving these funds in this manner. All kind of makes sense to me. I asked if I could call them prior to initiating the wire and explain what I am doing to grease the skids. She said, sure that would work. So I may just do that. Takes all of 5 minutes.

Interestingly, I passed sizable five and six figure amounts through my BofA account in July and August. Transfers were in round amounts too - $25k, $50K and $150K. BofA said nothing to me at all. Now I did not initiate the transfers from the BofA side. They were pushed into BofA from a bank/broker and then pulled from BofA by another bank or broker. Transfers happened sometimes all in one day and other times the very next day. So a second data point from another financial institution. Maybe the fact that BofA did not do the pulling or pushing had an impact? Maybe BofA does not have a 100% fraud guarantee?
Very informative. Thank you. Fidelity's online wire is limited to $100k.
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Re: Best CD rates thread

Post by Kevin M »

Does PSECU allow adding beneficiaries to make it a payable on death (POD) account? Is it easy? I didn't see this mentioned yet, and it is a requirement for me.

Incidentally, these are great CD deals. With the 2-year Treasury at 1.63% and the 3-year at 1.60%, your yield premium is about 140 basis points on the 2-year CD at 3%, and 165 basis points on the 3-year at 3.25%. Even the 5-year at 3% is about 140 basis points over the 5-year Treasury at 1.59%, so if one is concerned about rates remaining low for a long time, this would be a good one. My average yield premium for CDs bought since late 2010 is about 115 basis points, and my highest is something like 150 basis points, so 140 basis points is excellent.

I see Vanguard brokered 2-year CD at 1.80%, and 3-year at 1.90%, so the PSECU CD yield premiums relative to brokered CDs are 120 bps for the 2-year and 135 bps for the 3-year.

This deal is good enough in the current environment that I think I'll attempt to join this CU and get in on the deal if the rates are still good tomorrow, although since tomorrow is a bank holiday, maybe they wouldn't change the rates until Tuesday. In general I'm avoiding joining more credit unions unless the deal is spectacular, but we are back in an environment where the best direct CDs are offering large yield premiums over Treasuries and brokered CDs, and yields are low and falling, so this is one of the few ways to get superior yields.

CDs would be funded from a savings account earning 2.50% through next July. It will require two transfers, since ACH limit at the savings account bank is $25K, and I'd probably be doing $200K or more. Maybe the bank will do a wire for more, but otherwise, I'll probably pull into Ally then push to PSECU. From the posts here, it sounds like you can't just provide PSECU with routing and account number of an external bank to fund the CD.

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Re: Best CD rates thread

Post by HEDGEFUNDIE »

Kevin M wrote: Sun Oct 13, 2019 8:46 pm Does PSECU allow adding beneficiaries to make it a payable on death (POD) account? Is it easy? I didn't see this mentioned yet, and it is a requirement for me.

Incidentally, these are great CD deals. With the 2-year Treasury at 1.63% and the 3-year at 1.60%, your yield premium is about 140 basis points on the 2-year CD at 3%, and 165 basis points on the 3-year at 3.25%. Even the 5-year at 3% is about 140 basis points over the 5-year Treasury at 1.59%, so if one is concerned about rates remaining low for a long time, this would be a good one. My average yield premium for CDs bought since late 2010 is about 115 basis points, and my highest is something like 150 basis points, so 140 basis points is excellent.

I see Vanguard brokered 2-year CD at 1.80%, and 3-year at 1.90%, so the PSECU CD yield premiums relative to brokered CDs are 120 bps for the 2-year and 135 bps for the 3-year.

This deal is good enough in the current environment that I think I'll attempt to join this CU and get in on the deal if the rates are still good tomorrow, although since tomorrow is a bank holiday, maybe they wouldn't change the rates until Tuesday. In general I'm avoiding joining more credit unions unless the deal is spectacular, but we are back in an environment where the best direct CDs are offering large yield premiums over Treasuries and brokered CDs, and yields are low and falling, so this is one of the few ways to get superior yields.

CDs would be funded from a savings account earning 2.50% through next July. It will require two transfers, since ACH limit at the savings account bank is $25K, and I'd probably be doing $200K or more. Maybe the bank will do a wire for more, but otherwise, I'll probably pull into Ally then push to PSECU. From the posts here, it sounds like you can't just provide PSECU with routing and account number of an external bank to fund the CD.

Kevin
If you are so confident a 1.4% spread over the comparable Treasury is such a good deal, the move you should make is actually to buy long term treasuries, not CDs.
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Re: Best CD rates thread

Post by indexfundfan »

Kevin M wrote: Sun Oct 13, 2019 8:46 pm Does PSECU allow adding beneficiaries to make it a payable on death (POD) account? Is it easy? I didn't see this mentioned yet, and it is a requirement for me.

Incidentally, these are great CD deals. With the 2-year Treasury at 1.63% and the 3-year at 1.60%, your yield premium is about 140 basis points on the 2-year CD at 3%, and 165 basis points on the 3-year at 3.25%. Even the 5-year at 3% is about 140 basis points over the 5-year Treasury at 1.59%, so if one is concerned about rates remaining low for a long time, this would be a good one. My average yield premium for CDs bought since late 2010 is about 115 basis points, and my highest is something like 150 basis points, so 140 basis points is excellent.

I see Vanguard brokered 2-year CD at 1.80%, and 3-year at 1.90%, so the PSECU CD yield premiums relative to brokered CDs are 120 bps for the 2-year and 135 bps for the 3-year.

This deal is good enough in the current environment that I think I'll attempt to join this CU and get in on the deal if the rates are still good tomorrow, although since tomorrow is a bank holiday, maybe they wouldn't change the rates until Tuesday. In general I'm avoiding joining more credit unions unless the deal is spectacular, but we are back in an environment where the best direct CDs are offering large yield premiums over Treasuries and brokered CDs, and yields are low and falling, so this is one of the few ways to get superior yields.

CDs would be funded from a savings account earning 2.50% through next July. It will require two transfers, since ACH limit at the savings account bank is $25K, and I'd probably be doing $200K or more. Maybe the bank will do a wire for more, but otherwise, I'll probably pull into Ally then push to PSECU. From the posts here, it sounds like you can't just provide PSECU with routing and account number of an external bank to fund the CD.

Kevin
There is a form for you to apply or change an account to a "Tentative Trust". This let's you add individuals as beneficiaries. Not sure if you can add a family trust though.

Funding the CD is not the simplest. You need to move the money into their savings or checking, before you can open the CD. But I have read a report of someone calling PSECU to allow a larger mobile check deposit to fund the CD. YMMV.

On the "Open a CD" page (after logged in), it currently states "These rates are valid from Monday, October 07, 2019 to Sunday, October 13, 2019. A minimum balance of $500 is required to open a certificate account." We will know soon enough if PSECU will extend it by another week.
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Re: Best CD rates thread

Post by indexfundfan »

Apparently the PSECU CD rates have been extended.

24mo @ 3.00%, EWP 90 days
36mo @ 3.25%, EWP 180 days
60mo @ 3.00%, EWP 180 days
EWP = early withdrawal penalty

"These rates are valid from Monday, October 14, 2019 to Sunday, October 20, 2019. A minimum balance of $500 is required to open a certificate account."
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Re: Best CD rates thread

Post by mortfree »

Rates are always subject to change and my memory may be foggy BUT I think I received a notification to take advantage of these rates before November 1.

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Re: Best CD rates thread

Post by Ricchan »

Kevin M wrote: Sun Oct 13, 2019 8:46 pm From the posts here, it sounds like you can't just provide PSECU with routing and account number of an external bank to fund the CD.
I noticed there was no option to link an external bank account to my newly opened PSECU account on the PSECU website. I called PSECU and they said linking external accounts is not immediately available for new accounts. They also mentioned the maximum limit for transfers from external banks is $1,500 per day and $6,000 per month.

So yes, initiating the ACH from the external bank is probably the best option.

For reference, I opened my PSECU account on Monday. It was approved and activated on Wednesday. I then linked the PSECU account to my Ally account. Trial deposits showed up on Thursday. Initiated ACH on Thursday, and the funds arrived on Friday. Creating and funding the CD then happened immediately.

I also linked PSECU to my Marcus account. The trial deposits from Marcus took 2 days to appear at PSECU instead of 1 in the case of Ally, and I'm still now waiting for the ACH from Marcus to complete (thanks to the weekend and the Monday banking holiday).
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Re: Best CD rates thread

Post by Kevin M »

HEDGEFUNDIE wrote: Sun Oct 13, 2019 8:54 pm If you are so confident a 1.4% spread over the comparable Treasury is such a good deal, the move you should make is actually to buy long term treasuries, not CDs.
That is absurd, on several levels.

First, the 30y Treasury yield is 2.22%--only about 60 basis points over the 2y or 3y Treasuries--nowhere close to 140 bps.

Second, it doesn't make sense to compare two fixed-income products with vastly different risks--in this case, term risk. The 2y or 3y CDs have the same term risk as a 2y or 3y Treasury--actually less due to the early withdrawal option, and the credit risk is comparable. So the 140 basis point advantage is for a fixed-income alternative with similar risks.

Note that this thread is about good CD deals, so comparisons with Treasuries is only applicable in determining how good the CD deal is. This isn't a thread in which to debate the merits of CDs vs. Treasuries, other than as it applies to judging the CD deal.

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Re: Best CD rates thread

Post by vv19 »

DoC's website has a section on CD rates that might be useful for this discussion:

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/high-int ... t_CD_Rates
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Re: Best CD rates thread

Post by VictoriaF »

As the title of this thread is "Best CD rates", I'd like to re-define "best" as "optimal combination" -- and pose a question as follows:

What are 3 to 5 banks and credit unions that consistently offer high CD rates and allow to move money among them relatively easily?

I am quite pleased with:
1) Navy Fed
2) Ally

3) PenFed used to offer great CD rates, but not recently.
4) Andrews Federal Credit Union has OK rates but dealing with them is a bit awkward.

What would be a single other financial institution to get an account at solely for the sake of consistently good CD rates and ease of dealing with?

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Re: Best CD rates thread

Post by Scooter57 »

Victoria,

There doesn't ever seem to be a bank or CU that consistently offers the best rates. Institutions offer enticing rates because they need to prop up their reserves (not good) or because they are doing land office mortgage and car loan business. (Very good.) The institutions that had the best rates a few years ago now seem to be all set for money and their rates are no longer competitive. I have yet to have a 5 year CD mature where the institution offering it provided a competitive alternative to moving my money elsewhere.

Over the past 7 years I've invested happily with PenFed, NASA FCU, Live Oak Bank, and several local institutions. This past year I opened accounts at Mountain America CU and Pioneer Valley Credit Union (Local to me) to take advantage of 3.45% 5 yr certificate rates after my 3% PenFed CDs matured and PenFed did not offer competitive rates anymore. Those rates are gone now, so I'm really happy to have found the PSECU offer online because the location I live in keeps me from qualifying for most of the attractive CD offers found online. I applied this morning and hope I can fund it this week. I needed to fill out the 3 year rung of my 5 year CD ladder and this will do the job nicely.

I check out the institutions I invest with through depositaccounts.com and track their financial health ratings when they update them every quarter. The worst ratings I have seen were for the brick and mortar Credit Unions in towns near where I live where I had invested for decades before discovering the online CDs.

I also read the comments on depostiaccounts.com to get a feeling for how a CU's customer service performs. I have avoided a couple of higher rate CD offers over the years because I read too many comments that made me uncomfortable about dealing with the small CUs that offered them. I also phone and ask customer service staff questions before I invest, to get a feeling for how helpful they might be and how easy to reach.
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Re: Best CD rates thread

Post by UpperNwGuy »

VictoriaF wrote: Mon Oct 14, 2019 3:03 pm As the title of this thread is "Best CD rates", I'd like to re-define "best" as "optimal combination" -- and pose a question as follows:

What are 3 to 5 banks and credit unions that consistently offer high CD rates and allow to move money among them relatively easily?

I am quite pleased with:
1) Navy Fed
2) Ally

3) PenFed used to offer great CD rates, but not recently.
4) Andrews Federal Credit Union has OK rates but dealing with them is a bit awkward.

What would be a single other financial institution to get an account at solely for the sake of consistently good CD rates and ease of dealing with?

Victoria
PenFed and Navy seem to take turns offering better rates than the other institution. That's why I have kept accounts at both for the last 30 years. Having said that, I don't have CDs at either institution. I'm using PenFed's high yield savings account (2% for now). The rest of my savings are in Vanguard's Prime Money Market Fund.
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