Interest rates: the library
APY and APR, how the Fed moves your rates, insurance above $250,000, CD types, buying Treasuries, after-tax and real returns, and what borrowing costs.
Open this section in the app →In this section (14)
- 🔢 Interest rate vs APY vs APRIn 30 seconds: The interest rate is the raw yearly percentage. APY (annual percentage yield) adds the effect of compounding and is the number savings…
- 🛒 Real return: your rate vs inflationIn 30 seconds: Your real return is roughly your interest rate minus inflation, after tax. If that number is below zero, your balance grows but buys less each…
- 🏛️ How the Fed moves your ratesIn 30 seconds: The Federal Reserve sets a target range for one overnight rate. Short-term rates (T-bills, savings, prime-based credit cards) move with it…
- 🛡️ Insuring more than $250,000In 30 seconds: Coverage is $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, per ownership category . Single, joint, retirement and trust accounts each count…
- 📑 CD types and early exitsIn 30 seconds: Every CD trades some flexibility for a fixed rate. A bank CD lets you leave early by paying a penalty set in your agreement. A brokered CD…
- 🗳️ How to buy Treasuries and I bondsIn 30 seconds: There are two doors. TreasuryDirect is the government’s own site: free, auctions only, and you cannot sell there. A brokerage lets you buy at…
- 🧾 Comparing yields after taxIn 30 seconds: Compare what you keep, not what is quoted. Bank interest is taxed by the IRS and your state. Treasury interest is taxed only federally.…
- 💳 What borrowing costs, and how to compareIn 30 seconds: Compare loans by APR for the same term. Look up typical rates from the Federal Reserve’s monthly G.19 release before you shop. Paying off a…
- 🔍 Is my online bank or money app safe?In 30 seconds: An online bank with its own charter is as safe as a branch bank: the FDIC insures its deposits directly (the NCUA does the same for credit…
- 🪙 Money market funds vs bank money market accountsIn 30 seconds: A money market account is a bank deposit, insured like savings. A money market fund is a mutual fund that holds short-term IOUs. Most aim to…
- 🎟️ I bonds and EE bonds as a strategyIn 30 seconds: An I bond’s rate is a fixed part, locked for 30 years, plus an inflation part that resets every six months. Over the long run the fixed part…
- 🎁 Bank bonuses and rate chasing: the real mathIn 30 seconds: A $300 bonus is not $300. Subtract the interest your money would have earned elsewhere while it sat to meet the terms, and the tax on the…
- 🏠 Mortgage rates explained: what sets yours and what 1% costsIn 30 seconds: Two forces set your mortgage rate: the market (long-term bond yields, which move daily) and you (credit score, down payment, loan type and…
- 🚙 Auto and personal loan rates: how lenders price youIn 30 seconds: Lenders price installment loans by risk: your credit, your debts compared with your income, the term, and whether something backs the loan. A…