How does a CD ladder work?

A CD ladder splits one deposit across several CDs with staggered maturity dates, so part of the money frees up at regular intervals while the rest keeps earning longer-term rates. Divide the total by the number of rungs and assign each rung a term stepping evenly up to the longest. Put $50,000 into five rungs of $10,000 at 12, 24, 36, 48 and 60 months, paying 4.30%, 4.40%, 4.50%, 4.55% and 4.60% APY respectively, and the ladder returns $57,210.61 — $7,210.61 of interest — with a money-weighted blended yield of 4.47%. As each rung matures you either take the cash or roll it into a new longest rung, which keeps the cycle running. The point is that it removes the timing decision: you are neither betting rates will fall by locking everything long, nor giving up yield by keeping everything short.

How many rungs should a CD ladder have?

Between four and six for most savers, because the useful trade-off is between how often cash becomes available and how much admin you are willing to do. More rungs means shorter gaps between maturities and a blended yield closer to the average of the curve; fewer rungs means less to track but longer stretches where nothing is accessible. A five-rung ladder over 60 months frees up a fifth of the balance every twelve months. On $50,000 split into five $10,000 rungs at 4.30% through 4.60% APY, the first rung returns $10,430.00 after a year while the 60-month rung continues to $12,521.56. The number that actually matters is the shortest rung, since that sets how soon you first get access. Pick the interval you need cash at, then work backwards to the rung count.

Is a CD ladder better than one long CD?

It depends entirely on what you believe rates will do, which is why most people should prefer the ladder. A single long CD wins if rates fall, because you locked the higher rate across the whole balance. It loses if rates rise, because every dollar is stuck. A ladder splits that bet: $50,000 in one 60-month CD at 4.50% APY returns $62,309.10, while the same $50,000 laddered across 12 to 60 months at 4.30% to 4.60% returns $57,210.61 — less in this particular rate environment, but with a fifth of the balance becoming available every year rather than none for five years. You are paying some yield for liquidity and for not having to forecast. If you genuinely have no view on rates, that is a sensible price.

CD Ladder Calculator

Bauen Sie eine Zinstreppe und sehen Sie die Mischrendite live.

Build a CD ladder rung by rung and see maturity dates, blended yield and total interest update live.

Gesamtzinsen: 6.513,50 $
Gemischter APY: 4,20%

Ihre Leiter

Gesamtbetrag der Leiter

10.000,00 $ per rung across 5 CDs

Anzahl der Stufen

Längste Laufzeit

Mon.

Rungs step every 1 Jahr

Zinseszins-Intervall

Zinssatz je Stufe (APY)

1 Jahr4,50%

2 Jahre4,30%

3 Jahre4,15%

4 Jahre4,05%

5 Jahre4,00%

Gesamtzinsen: 6.513,50 $
Leiterwert bei voller Fälligkeit: 56.513,50 $
Gemischter APY: 4,20%

Fälligkeitsplan

#1
1 Jahr4,50%
10.450,00 $
#2
2 Jahre4,30%
10.878,49 $
#3
3 Jahre4,15%
11.297,38 $
#4
4 Jahre4,05%
11.721,10 $
#5
5 Jahre4,00%
12.166,53 $

Splitting 50.000,00 $ across 5 rungs up to 5 years earns 6.513,50 $ in total interest at a blended 4,20% — with 10.450,00 $ becoming available after just 1 Jahr.

Each rung is calculated independently with A = P(1 + r/n)^nt and runs entirely in your browser. Reinvestment of maturing rungs is not assumed.

Kostenlos — ohne Anmeldung
Aktualisiert beim Tippen
Läuft in Ihrem Browser

Formeln und Inhalte zuletzt geprüft 21. Juli 2026. Bankzinsen ändern sich häufig – bestätigen Sie die aktuellen Konditionen direkt bei Ihrem Institut.

Die kurze Antwort

Wie funktioniert eine CD-Zinstreppe?

A CD ladder splits one deposit across several CDs with staggered maturity dates, so part of the money comes free at regular intervals while the rest keeps earning longer-term rates. Divide the total by the number of rungs, assign each rung a term stepping evenly up to the longest, and compute each with A = P(1 + r/n)^(nt). The ladder's blended APY is the deposit-weighted average of the rung rates, not a simple average, so an unequal ladder tilts toward whichever rungs hold the most money. The point of a ladder is that it removes the timing decision: you are neither betting that rates will fall by locking everything long, nor giving up yield by keeping everything short. As each rung matures you either take the cash or roll it into a new longest rung, which keeps the cycle going.

Formel & Methode

So wird gerechnet

Blended APY = Σ (rateᵢ × amountᵢ) ÷ total deposited

Each rung's rate weighted by the dollars in it gives the ladder's overall yield.

rateᵢ: APY on rung i
amountᵢ: Dollars placed in rung i
Σ: Sum across every rung

Schritt für Schritt

1
Divide your total deposit by the number of rungs to size each CD.
2
Assign staggered terms — 5 rungs over 60 months means 12, 24, 36, 48 and 60 months.
3
Look up the bank's rate for each term and enter it per rung.
4
Calculate each rung independently with A = P(1 + r/n)^(nt).
5
Sum the maturity values for the ladder total, and weight the rates by amount for the blended APY.

Anleitung

So verwenden Sie diesen Rechner

Vier Eingaben, sofortige Ergebnisse. Nichts abzuschicken und nichts zu registrieren.

1
Enter your total amount
The full sum you want laddered. The tool splits it evenly across the rungs you choose.
2
Choose the number of rungs
Four or five is typical. More rungs mean more frequent access to cash but smaller individual CDs.
3
Set the longest term
This anchors the ladder. Terms step evenly from the shortest rung up to this maximum.
4
Tune each rung's rate
Enter your bank's actual rate for each term. Longer rungs usually pay more, and the ladder diagram redraws as you type.

Beispiele

Rechenbeispiele

Echte Zahlen, vollständig durchgerechnet – damit Sie den Rechner gegen Ihre eigenen Werte prüfen können.

$50,000 laddered across 5 rungs over 60 months

Total: $50,000
Rungs: 5 × $10,000
Terms: 12, 24, 36, 48, 60 months
Rates: 4.50% / 4.30% / 4.15% / 4.05% / 4.00%

Total interest: $6,513.50
Ladder value at full maturity: $56,513.50
Blended APY: 4.20%
First cash available: 12 months

You capture most of the 5-year rate while still freeing $10,000 plus interest every twelve months.

Methodik

Genauigkeit & Annahmen

Jeder Rechner trifft Annahmen. Hier sind unsere, klar benannt, damit Sie genau wissen, was die Zahlen berücksichtigen – und was nicht.

Rungs are funded on the same day and sized equally — uneven ladders are possible but change the blended yield.
Rates shown per rung are the bank's current rates for those terms; real rates change between rungs maturing.
The model does not assume reinvestment. In practice you would roll each maturing rung into a new long-term CD.
Each rung is a separate CD with its own early withdrawal penalty.

Die Konventionen folgen Regulation DD (12 CFR 1030), die regelt, wie US-Institute den APY auf Einlagenkonten ausweisen. Einlagen bei versicherten Instituten sind durch die FDIC bis $250,000 je Einleger, je Bank und je Kontoart geschützt.

Primärquellen

Woher diese Regeln stammen

Die Konventionen, denen dieser Rechner folgt, werden von Aufsichtsbehörden festgelegt, nicht von uns. Jede verweist auf die herausgebende Stelle, damit Sie sie nachprüfen können, statt uns glauben zu müssen.

Einzelheiten

Wichtige Details und Regeln

Schnell erfassbare Fakten, die Sie vor dem Abschluss oder der Verlängerung eines CD kennen sollten.

Laddering reduces interest-rate risk: if rates rise you reinvest a rung soon; if they fall your long rungs stay locked at the old higher rate.
Once a ladder is mature, rolling each maturing rung into the longest term means you eventually earn long-term rates on everything while still having annual access.
A 'barbell' variant puts money only in the shortest and longest terms; a 'bullet' targets one future date with several CDs maturing together.
FDIC insurance covers $250,000 per depositor per bank — a large ladder can be split across institutions to stay fully covered.

Wie das zusammenhängt

Für wen dieser Rechner gedacht ist

Retirees building income
You want a rung maturing every year to cover annual expenses without touching the rest.
Rate-uncertain savers
You do not want to bet on rates going up or down, so you hedge across terms.
Emergency-fund holders
You want better-than-savings yield but need part of the money reachable without a penalty.

Verwandte Rechner

Alle CD-Rechner im Überblick

Neun fokussierte Werkzeuge, die das gesamte Thema Festgeldzertifikate abdecken.

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