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CD Calculator

Enter your deposit, the CD's APY (or rate and compounding) and the term to see your balance at maturity and interest earned, then check the after-tax return, what an early withdrawal would cost, and how a 5-year CD ladder would grow.

Updated November 3, 2026. Free, no sign-up; everything runs in your browser and nothing you type is stored.

CD calculator

Balance at maturity
–
–Interest earned
–Effective yield
–After tax
–After tax and inflation

Early withdrawal penalty

You'd get back
–

CD ladder (5 rungs)

Ladder rates are examples. Enter the rates your bank offers.

How CD interest is calculated

Banks quote CDs by APY (annual percentage yield), which already includes compounding. So the balance after t years is simply deposit × (1 + APY)t. $10,000 at 4.00% APY for 12 months grows to $10,400.

If you only have the stated interest rate, choose "Interest rate (APR)" and the compounding. The yield is (1 + rate ÷ n)n − 1, so 4.00% compounded daily is 4.081% APY. Don't apply compounding to an APY, or you'll overstate the earnings.

Taxes: CD interest is taxed as ordinary income in the year it's credited, even if you don't withdraw it. Your bank reports it on Form 1099-INT.

Early withdrawal: penalties are set by each bank, commonly 90 days to a year of interest. If you withdraw early, the penalty can be larger than the interest earned so far and eat into your deposit. The calculator shows when that happens.

Common questions

How much will $10,000 earn in a 1-year CD?

At 4.00% APY, $400, for a balance of $10,400. At 4.50% APY, $450.

What's the difference between APY and the interest rate?

The interest rate (APR) doesn't include compounding; APY does. APY is the better number for comparing CDs.

Is CD interest taxable?

Yes. It's taxed as ordinary income in the year it's credited to your account and reported on Form 1099-INT, unless the CD is in an IRA or other tax-advantaged account.

What happens if I withdraw a CD early?

You usually pay a penalty of some months of interest. Early in the term the penalty can exceed the interest earned, so you'd get back less than you deposited.

Are CDs FDIC insured?

CDs at FDIC-insured banks are covered up to $250,000 per depositor, per bank, per ownership category. Credit union CDs have the same coverage through the NCUA.

Sources

Related

General information, not financial, tax or legal advice. Check important numbers with the official source before acting on them.