Rate Unlocker — Moving savings and CD balances to a | rateunlocker.com
Five equal rungs, staggered one year apart, mature 20 % of the balance every 12 months.
Divide the balance into five equal parts. On $25,000 that is five rungs of $5,000; on $8,000 it is five of $1,600. Equal size is what makes the math clean: each rung is exactly 20 % of the money.
Place the rungs in terms one year apart: 1-year, 2-year, 3-year, 4-year and 5-year CDs. From that day on, one rung — 20 % of the balance — matures every 12 months, giving a penalty-free exit or a reinvestment point once a year.
At each maturity, use the 7-10 day grace period to roll the money into a new 5-year rung at the top of the ladder. After the first full cycle, every rung is a 5-year CD earning the longest-term rate, yet one still matures each year.
On narrow screens, swipe or scroll the plate sideways.
The ladder converts rate risk into a schedule. Each rate rise is captured by one fifth of the balance at the next maturity, and each rate fall is cushioned because four fifths stay locked at older rates. You are never fully right or fully wrong.
The ladder also caps penalty exposure. If cash is needed, the rung maturing this year comes out free; breaking a second rung costs one rung's penalty — 3 to 12 months of that rung's interest — not the whole balance's.
Keep every rung within FDIC limits: $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, per ownership category. If the total approaches the limit at one bank, rungs can sit at different insured banks without breaking the structure. For choosing between CDs and savings for each rung, see the comparison page; for the cost of breaking a rung early, see the penalty page.
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