$40,000 6-month CD vs. $40,000 1-year CD: Which will earn more interest now?

MoneyWatch: Managing Your Money $40,000 6-month CD vs. $40,000 1-year CD: Which will earn more interest now? We may receive commissions from some links to products on this page. Promotions are subject to availability and retailer terms. .chip { background-image: url('/fly/bundles/cbsnewscore/images/chip-bgd/chip-bgd-moneywatch.jpg'); } By Matt Richardson Matt Richardson Sr. Managing Editor, Managing Your Money Matt Richardson is the senior managing editor for the Managing Your Money section for CBSNews.com. He writes and edits content about personal finance ranging from savings to investing to insurance. Read Full Bio Matt Richardson June 11, 2026 / 3:22 PM EDT / CBS News Add CBS News on Google Short-term and long-term CD accounts come with similar interest rates now, but the growth potential associated with each will look different. Getty Images/iStockphoto Historically, interest rates on long-term certificate of deposit (CD) accounts were higher than those available with short-term CDs. And that logic was easy to follow. Banks and lending institutions were willing to pay more interest to savers who left their money in an account for more than a year than they were willing to pay to savers who regained access in 12 months or less. In the volatile economic climate of recent years, however, this relationship changed with many banks. As a result, savers often found better rates on short-term CDs that matured under a year than they did with their long-term counterparts.This has made interest-earning projections on CDs less predictable than they were in the past. But predictability is something savers need right now, especially with inflation surging again and even more so if there's a large, five-figure deposit amount under consideration. So, if you have $40,000 you're looking to deposit into a CD now, it helps to know if you'll earn more interest with a 6-month option or a 1-year alternative. Thanks to the CD account's fixed rate, this math will be simple to calculate...