On Thursday, President Donald Trump appeared at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland to give a speech. During his speech, which also covered topics such as tariffs and inflation, Trump said he'd "demand that interest rates drop immediately."
If interest-rate drops are on the horizon, certificates of deposit are a great way to lock in a good rate before rates lower. The best CD rates are between 4.50% and 5.00% APY, and once you open a CD, you'll be locked into that rate for the duration of its term length.
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Should you prepare for lower CD rates?
The Federal Reserve, which is the central banking system of the US, can greatly impact interest rates by raising or lowering the federal funds rate when the next Federal Reserve meeting takes place. As president, Trump cannot require the Fed to raise or lower its rates since it acts independently.
"Part of the independence of the Federal Reserve from the presidential branch is that the Federal Reserve is the one who ultimately makes these decisions. We've never seen a president be able to unilaterally sway what the Federal Reserve has done," says Christopher Stroup, CFP® professional, founder and financial advisor of Silicon Beach Financial.
The Federal Reserve's decisions on whether to raise or lower rates depend on the strength of the economy. "Price stability and full employment is the dual mandate of the Federal Reserve," says Stuart Schiffman, CFP® professional, managing partner of Compound Wealth Advisors.
The Federal Reserve lowered rates in December after lowering interest rates in September and November before that. But it may not continue that trend in the new year; the CME FedWatch tool predicts a more than 90% chance that the federal funds rate will stay the same at the January 28 to 29 Federal Reserve meeting.
"The Federal Reserve indicated that they were going to slow the drop-down in interest rates so that they could gather more information around what was happening with inflation and also what's going on in the economy," Stroup says. "Interest rate drops may be possible through the Federal Reserve, but they've indicated that the volume of rate drops is likely to be smaller than what people, maybe, previously expected," he adds.
Schiffman says that some of the measures Trump had talked about, such as tariffs, could lead to interest-rate increases from the Fed because of their effects on inflation.
How to lock in an interest rate with CDs
If you want to prepare for possible interest-rate drops, CDs are a good method to do so. CDs offer a fixed interest rate, which means that your interest rate won't change from the time you open your CD to the time its term length ends. For example, if you open a 1-year CD with 4.50% APY, that CD will keep its 4.50% APY until a year has passed. In exchange, you can't withdraw your money without penalty until the end of the term length, either.
You can generally find CDs offering term lengths from three months to five years. Right now, when comparing short-term CD rates vs. long-term CD rates, short-term CDs give higher rates because banks still expect CD rates to drop, and they don't want to be locked into an overly high rate for years.
You should ultimately base your decision on what length of CD to open on your own personal savings goals. "I think it's really important for consumers to understand, what is the goal for that money? What is the time horizon associated with it? And then pick the CD product that aligns best with those circumstances," Stroup says.
Choosing the right CD for you
To help you choose a CD for your purposes, we've created a list of some of the best nationwide CDs currently offered. These are primarily held by online banks or credit unions, which tend to offer better rates than traditional banks. We've included a variety of term lengths to choose from so you can find a CD that best fits your needs.
| Account Name | APYAPYs (Annual Percentage Yields) are accurate as of 11/14/2025 | Minimum Account Opening Balance |
| Western Alliance Bank 3 Month CD, powered by Raisin | 4.40% | $1 |
| Barclays 6 Month Online CD | 3.80% | $0 |
| LendingClub 14 Month CD | 4.25% | $500 |
| Bask Bank 3 Month CD | 4.35% | $1,000 |
| TotalBank 6 Month CD | 4.41% | $25,000 |
| EagleBank 1 Year CD | 4.55% | $1,000 |
| Credit Human 18 Month Share Certificate | 4.05% | $500 |
| Signature Federal Credit Union 2 Year Certificate | 3.95% | $500 |
| Popular Direct 3 Year CD | 4.15% | $10,000 |
| America First Credit Union 5 Year Certificate | 4.25% | $500 |
Other ways to prepare for lower interest rates
If you aren't interested in a CD, there are other ways to earn a good interest rate through investing.
"You can invest in many things other than bank CDs. There's plenty of other fixed-income instruments that you can elect to purchase," Schiffman says. Options he lists include I bonds, which are a type of savings bond offered by the US Treasury directly, and money market funds, a type of bond fund with short maturities.
Putting your money into something short-term such as a money market fund could keep you from being locked into a lower rate for a significant period of time if interest rates rise, Schiffman notes. "You don't have to make the bet as to whether rates are going to go up or down," he says.
Correction: January 24, 2025 — An earlier version of this story said the Federal Reserve cut interest rates in October. The Federal Reserve cut interest rates in November.
