- Initial deposit
- The starting balance for your Certificate .
- Months
- The total number of months for this Certificate to mature.
- Interest rate
- The published rate for this Certificate. Make sure to enter the actual rate, not the annual percentage yield (APY).
- Annual percentage yield (APY)
- This is the effective annual rate earned for this Certificate. A Certificate's APY depends on the frequency of compounding and the rate. Since APY measures your actual earnings per year, you can use it to compare Certificate's of different rates and compounding frequencies.
- Compounding
- Earnings on your Certificate's accumulated returns. This calculator allows you to choose the frequency that your Certificate's income is added to your account. The more frequently this occurs, the sooner your accumulated income will generate additional returns. You may wish to check with your financial institution to find out how often returns are being compounded on your particular Certificate.
