See what three years in a CD actually earns.
Rate is quoted as
3 years
Common terms
Compounding frequency
$25,000.00 in a 3 years CD at 3.85% APY, compounded daily, grows to $28,000.10 — that’s $3,000.10 of interest, averaging $83.34 per month.
Balance over the term
| Month | Principal | Interest | Balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| At opening | $25,000.00 | $0.00 | $25,000.00 |
| 7mo | $25,000.00 | $557.03 | $25,557.03 |
| 14mo | $25,000.00 | $1,126.48 | $26,126.48 |
| 22mo | $25,000.00 | $1,792.83 | $26,792.83 |
| 29mo | $25,000.00 | $2,389.81 | $27,389.81 |
| 3y | $25,000.00 | $3,000.10 | $28,000.10 |
Calculated in your browser using A = P(1 + r/n)nt. Nothing is sent to a server. Figures are before tax; confirm exact terms with your bank.
Formulas and content last reviewed . Bank rates change frequently — confirm current rates directly with your institution.
The short answer
A 3-year CD fixes your rate for 36 months, which is long enough that the compounding starts to do real work and short enough that it does not dominate your savings plan. A $25,000 deposit at 3.85% APY earns $3,000.10 and matures at $28,000.10; on $50,000 the same term returns $56,000.19. Against rolling a one-year CD three times at 4.25%, the three-year lock currently finishes $324.79 behind — which is the cost of removing three years of reinvestment risk from your plan. Three years is also where the early withdrawal penalty becomes a genuine constraint rather than a footnote: most banks charge 180 to 365 days of interest at this term, so breaking the CD in year one can leave you with less than you deposited. The term suits money you are confident you will not touch, in a plan where knowing the exact figure three years out is worth more than the last few basis points.
Formula & method
A = P(1 + r/n)^(nt), t = 3
Three years of compounding. On $25,000 at 3.85% the third year alone contributes $1,037.80.
Convert the 36-month rate to a decimal and divide by n.
Raise (1 + r/n) to the power n × 3.
Multiply by the deposit for the maturity value.
Subtract the deposit for the total interest across the three years.
Compare against the one-year rate cubed to see what the lock is costing or saving.
Guide
Type the amount or drag the slider. Three years of interest on a large deposit can push the balance past the $250,000 insurance limit — check the maturity value, not the opening figure.
Use the rate quoted for the three-year term. Credit unions are frequently more competitive than banks at this length.
The growth chart makes the compounding visible: each year adds more than the last on an unchanged rate.
At three years the penalty is usually 180 to 365 days of interest. Confirm which, because it decides whether an early exit is survivable.
Examples
Inputs
Result
The third year pays $75.54 more than the first at an identical rate. Over three years compounding adds $112.60 above what simple interest would have produced — small in absolute terms, and the beginning of the curve that makes long CDs work.
Inputs
Result
Rolling is $324.79 ahead if short rates hold for three years — and that is a long time to assume anything. The three-year CD converts an unknown into a known for about 1.2% of the deposit, which is a defensible price for anyone who needs the figure to be certain.
Methodology
The rolling comparison holds the one-year rate at 4.25% for all three years. Over a three-year horizon that assumption is doing a great deal of work.
Interest compounds inside the CD for the full term. Taking it as income removes the year-on-year growth shown in the first example.
The rate is fixed. Step-rate and bump-up CDs at this term follow a schedule instead and need to be priced period by period.
Figures are gross of tax. A three-year CD produces taxable interest in three separate years, all payable before maturity.
Conventions follow Regulation DD (12 CFR 1030), which governs how US institutions disclose APY on deposit accounts. Deposits at insured institutions are FDIC-protected up to $250,000 per depositor, per bank, per ownership category.
Primary sources
Details
Three years is roughly where the early withdrawal penalty stops being a footnote. A 365-day penalty on $25,000 at 3.85% is $962.50 — more than the entire first year's interest, so breaking in year one returns less than the deposit.
Credit union share certificates are often most competitive at the two-to-four-year range. Coverage comes from the NCUA rather than the FDIC, at the same $250,000 limit and with the same government backing.
The interest is taxed annually as ordinary income, so a three-year CD produces three 1099-INT forms and three tax bills on money you cannot reach.
Inflation matters at this length. Three years at 3.85% with inflation at 2.5% is a real return of about 1.3% a year — positive, but a long way from the headline.
A 36-month rung is the natural middle of a five-year ladder. If the whole plan is one three-year CD, consider splitting it across 1, 2 and 3-year terms instead for the same average yield and far more flexibility.
How it connects
Applications
A deposit, a planned renovation, a school fee. Knowing the exact figure available on a specific date three years out is worth more to a plan than an extra 0.40%.
Three years is a substantial lock. If your view is that short rates are heading down, this is the term where that view starts to pay for itself.
For the fixed-income sleeve of a portfolio, a 36-month CD is a guaranteed-return, insured alternative to a short-duration bond fund — without the mark-to-market movement.
Related tools
FAQs
At 3.85% APY, a $25,000 deposit earns $3,000.10 over the term and matures at $28,000.10. The three years pay $962.50, $999.56 and $1,038.04 respectively — each larger than the last, because each is earned on a bigger balance.
Security & privacy
Uses the same compound interest and APY conventions as banks under Regulation DD.
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See the year-by-year interest, the maturity value and what the lock-up is costing against staying short.