Interest Rates
You hear about interest rates everywhere. They affect how much your bank will pay out on your CDs and money market accounts. They affect how much more you have to pay a credit card company above and beyond the amount you charged.
They make your house payments rise and fall. They make your investments rise and fall. But what makes interest rates rise and fall?
The Low-Down on Interest Rates
High, low, fixed, variable. What’s so interesting about rates, anyway?
Why Interest Rates Fluctuate
They say in Seattle, if you don’t like the weather–just wait half an hour. Likewise, if you don’t like the direction in which interest rates are headed, wait for the next time Alan Greenspan makes a public statement.
How Interest Rates Affect You
Interest rates are kind of like mood rings: When they’re low, you feel all warm and radiant. But when they rise, the whole world grows dark and cold. Especially if you’re big on using credit cards.