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Are Interest Rates Up, Up and Away?




What to do as interest rates go up.
Interest rates have been at their lowest levels in over 40 years. U.S. consumers have been able to purchase previously unaffordable homes, cars and other toys. Many have used inexpensive home equity loans to remodel, take vacations and pay off credit cards. Students have taken advantage of the rock-bottom student loan rates.

But, interest rates look to be headed up. Recently, the Federal Reserve escalated the Fed funds rate to 5.25%. So, what does that mean to you and me?

The increase in rates is important if you have variable (not fixed) loans. For example, if you have adjustable rate mortgage or home equity lines of credit, the interest rates will probably go up (as well as the payments) in the next few months. Each time the Fed increases the Fed funds rate, it will roll down onto your adjustable rate loans and your payments will go up. The speed of increase and the amount of the increase will depend on what index your loan is based on - check with your lending institution for more information on that.

If you have high credit card debt, the situation may be even more bleak because credit card rates remained high while other rates have been incredibly low. The Fed increases are a good excuse for your credit card company to hike your rates even higher. And they will use that excuse.

So, what can you do if you're looking at rates and payments going up, up and away?

Your payment increases may be fairly gradual. Depending on the economy, the Fed will continue to increase rates although they have signaled that the increases are likely to be very gradual. If the economic or political situation changes, they always have the ability to lower rates again. The Fed's rate-setting committee has kept the rate the same for several meetings and they may skip a rate increase at at the next meeting if inflation is subdued.

Check with your student loan or home equity lenders to see about consolidating and locking in rates Good news: interest rates on savings are also likely to increase! So, if you have CD's coming due, check with different financial institutions before automatically rolling them over, make sure you get the best rates being offered. If you have money stashed in savings accounts, the rates are probably starting to creep up. I highly recommend ING savings for the highest rates around (www.ingdirect.com). They also privide great service, have no fees or hidden costs and are FDIC insured. You can also name your accounts at ING to make it easy to identify what you're saving for.

If you've been thinking about re-financing, there are still some good deals out there and there's no sense in procrastinating any longer. Contact me for some excellent resources for re-financing.

What if a new house isn't in your plans for a couple of years? When rates go up, real estate prices often cool down and balances out the higher interest rates. Continue to save money in the highest interest short-term accounts you can find (no stocks or other long-term investments). Rates will probably not take huge leaps in the short term.

If you have an adjustable rate (home or home equity or car loans), you will see higher payments so call your lender to find out what the new payment is "likely" to be. They'll probably put all kinds of disclaimers out about not really knowing, but try to get a worst case scenario and then start pretending you really do have that new payment. Put the extra into a special savings account so you'll have a "slush" fund to cover the higher payment if you run short one month. Setting the money aside now, means you are also building up a cushion for the future. This budgetary discpipline will also give you a good idea of whether or not you can handle the new payment. If not, now is the time to start looking at other alternatives like cutting back on expenses, increasing your income or even refinancing.

Remember, if you refinance your existing term to a new 30 year term, you'll have lower payments, but you'll pay a lot more for your house because of the additional interest.

Call your credit card companies and see if they are willing to lower your rates (not all are). But surprisingly, some credit card companines have special rates available on a regular basis. Look for good, permanent credit card interest rates that you can transfer higher rate balances to. For example, if most of your cards are 18% or higher, find a good 12% card or lower and transfer as much a s you can to that new card. Note: Playing the 0% credit card shuffle is a dangerous game and can hurt your credit score. For the best credit card offers, I recommend Free-Cards.

Reduce credit card debt now! Stop using your cards and pay more than the minimums. If you pay off one card, take that payment and add it to the payment on another card. If you receive a pay increase, put it towards paying off the cards. The sooner the cards are paid off, the more flexibility you'll have!

All in all, we're quite likely to enjoy reasonable interest rates for some time to come. However, make preparations now and you'll be able to handle whatever comes your way.

If you need help, I'm the one to call -- 541-387-2995!

Cindy S. Morus (www.phelps-creek.com) is a Certified Financial Recovery Counselor specializing in showing women and their families how to achieve financial well-being and peace of mind. She is also a Certified Credit Report Reviewer and Get Clients NOW!? licensee. Contact her at 541-387-2995 or cmorus@phelps-creek.com She is also the publisher and editor of "Financial Fitness", an internet gazette dedicated to helping people improve their financial fitness no matter what decisions were made in the past.




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News about Interest Rates


Thai News Agency MCOT

Thai Leader Advocates Lowered Interest Rates
Wall Street Journal - 4 hours ago
Economists said the chance of deflation is looming and they expect the central bank to cut interest rates more in coming months as price pressures no longer ...
INSTANT VIEW 3-Indonesia's Dec CPI up 11.06 pct from year ago Forbes
Some lows are good Sify
Inflationary pressures subside, DGBAS reports Taipei Times
Reuters India - International Herald Tribune
all 60 news articles


Weekly Treasury auction sees rates increase
The Associated Press - 12 hours ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills, after hitting historic lows last month, rose in Monday's auction. ...
Weekly Treasury auction sees rates increase guardian.co.uk
all 43 news articles


Record low interest rates for Freddie Mac bills
Reuters - 17 hours ago
P: Quote, Profile, Research) said it sold $2 billion of bills on Monday at record low interest rates, drawing mixed demand compared with similar sales last ...


RTE.ie

Euro Falls to Three-Week Low on Speculation ECB Will Cut Rates
Bloomberg - 1 hour ago
The ECB cut interest rates by 1.75 percentage points since early October to 2.5 percent as the region entered a recession. The ECB’s next policy decision is ...
Dollar hits 3-week high vs euro, rate gap eyed guardian.co.uk
EURO ZONE INFLATION REPORT GIVES ROOM FOR ECB RATE CUT ForexTV.com
Case Builds for ECB Rate Cut Wall Street Journal
Forbes - Daily FX
all 182 news articles


Best Syndication

As Interest Rates Drop, Interest in Refinancing Jumps
WFMY News 2, NC - 6 hours ago
High Point -- When the Federal Reserve slashed interest rates to all-time lows last month, mortgage consultants say interest in refinancing home loans ...
Low Mortgage Interest Rates KEYC
Low Interest Rates Spurring Refinancing Rush ABC2 News
Mortgage rates in Australia Meadow Free Press
Idaho Business Review - Best Syndication
all 17 news articles


Indian Bond Yields Slide After Central Bank Cuts Interest Rates
Bloomberg - Jan 4, 2009
5 (Bloomberg) -- India’s 10-year bonds surged, sending yields to a record low, after the central bank slashed interest rates for the fourth time in less ...
Indian shares rally 3.2 pct on economic stimulus Reuters
Yield on 10-year bonds declines to 1998 levels Livemint
Indian shares edge higher, financials climb Reuters India
Bloomberg - Bloomberg
all 72 news articles


Norway 3-mth rate falls to 2-yr low at fixing
Forbes, NY - 21 hours ago
Market interest rates have dropped due to rate cuts by the central bank and as credit markets have gradually thawed out after seizing up in the ...


US interest rates mostly lower in latest week-Fed
Reuters - 12 hours ago
WASHINGTON, Jan 5 (Reuters) - The US Federal Reserve on Monday announced average interest rates for the week ended Jan. 2 compared with the Dec. ...


Nasdaq Opens Derivatives Clearinghouse
Wall Street Journal - 4 hours ago
Nasdaq OMX said the International Derivatives Clearinghouse has begun clearing and settling trades in US dollar interest-rate-swap futures. ...
IDCG Launches Clearinghouse for OTC Interest Rate Swaps MarketWatch (press release)
all 10 news articles


Boston Globe

High Interest Rates Hamper Refinancing Of Jumbo Housing Loans
AHN - 17 hours ago
Washington, DC (AHN) - Higher interest rate on housing loans beyond $625000 at 7 percent is hampering the refinancing of jumbo mortgages. ...
Jumbo mortgage loan rates put damper on refinancing Boston Globe
Jumbo Loans: They Should Get Some Refi "Love" Too CNBC
all 8 news articles

interest rates - Google News




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