What if U.S. ARM re-sets (based on LIBOR) bump up the interest-rate charges that already-strapped homeowners have to pay?
FORBES: UPDATE: LIBOR The Antitrust Division's Trojan Horse?
The first thing you need to do is talk to your loan officer and accountant to determine your total interest cost, net of the tax benefit, which will tell you how much your investment portfolio needs to earn in order to pay off the interest-rate charges of your mortgage.
We'll also see lenders getting round the interest-rate cap and imposing charges in other ways.
BBC: NEWS | Programmes | Moneybox | Interest rates: Does a cap fit?
In fact, in labour-intensive work, interest charges are a small proportion of total costs.
You could also switch your balance to a credit card which charges a lower rate of interest - there are many providers of these special "balance transfer" deals.
However, bond funds carry annual expenses, upfront or back-end commission charges and, if interest rates rise, bond fund holders can lose principal.
According to Fannie Mae, the government-sponsored mortgage-lending agency, up to half the people who take out sub-prime loans could qualify for a prime loan, which charges as much as four percentage points less interest, a huge saving over the 30-year life of a mortgage.
ECONOMIST: Lawmakers, state and federal, are mounting an attack
In addition to cutting the funds rate, the Fed announced it was reducing its discount rate, the interest it charges to make direct loans to banks, by a quarter-point, as well, to 4.75 percent.
First, check to see if your lender charges a prepayment penalty (generally 1-6 months of interest payments).
Salinas says, unapologetically, that his bank charges customers--the poorest inhabitants of a poor nation--an average interest rate of 50% annually, or 1% per week.
Three men, one of them Mr Donaldson, were arrested at the time - but late in 2005 prosecutors said they were dropping all charges "in the public interest".
This has proved important for all manner of subtle charges for mortgages, money withdrawal, insurance on loans and, inevitably, high-interest loans.
"We have determined that there is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and that these charges are in the public interest, " said Sue Hemming, head of Special Crime and Counter-Terrorism at the Crown Prosecution Service.
In addition to the amount paid for the product, cardmembers will receive a refund of the associated finance charges, any over-the-limit fees resulting from the charge for the product, and interest.
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