CDs to Retire Early?

I recently received a notification from my credit union offering a 3.3% APY CD that matures after 33 months, and the high interest rate could help me retire early!

Investing $100,000 into this CD would yield $9,499 once it matures.

The rate is very competitive to other CDs, but what if we invested into the stock market? Putting the same $100,000 into an S&P 500 index fund (VOO) over the past 33 months would have generated growth of more than $43,000! And that’s with us currently in a market dip!

Nothing against the credit union, but saying that you can use CD’s as a way to retire is an inflated statement. The best method to retire early is to save early, save more, and learn to live with swings in the stock market.

3.3% is a good rate compared to cash accounts (much better interest than either checking or savings), but using a CD is not an investment to help you retire early!