Interest Rate - A Simple Guide to Understanding What Interest Rates are and How they are Calculated

What is the Meaning of Interest Rate?

Interest rates are the price of money. The higher the interest rate, the more expensive it is to borrow money.

Interest rates are one of the most influential factors in determining how much people can afford to borrow and spend. It also influences where people choose to put their savings, which in turn affects overall economic growth and stability.

Interest rates are also a measure of how much risk a lender is willing to take on when they make a loan.

The Importance of the Federal Funds Rate

The Federal Funds Rate is the interest rate at which banks can borrow from the Federal Reserve and is one of the most important rates in the world.

The Federal Funds Rate is a key tool for managing inflation and influencing economic growth. The Fed sets it to meet its dual mandate of maximum employment and stable prices.

How to Calculate an Interest Rate

The interest rate is one of the most important numbers in finance. It’s the price you pay for borrowing money.

Interest rates are calculated by dividing the amount of money to be repaid by the amount of money borrowed.

The formula for calculating an interest rate is:

Interest Rate = (Principal * Rate) / Time Period

Interest Rates in Today's Economy

Interest rates are the amount of money paid by an individual or a company to borrow money from a lender. Interest rates are typically higher for a borrower who has less creditworthiness and lower for those who have better credit.

The Federal Reserve Bank sets the federal funds rate, which is the interest rate at which banks and other depository institutions lend balances to each other overnight. The Federal Reserve controls this rate by buying or selling U.S. Treasury securities in open market operations.

Interest rates can be affected by many different economic indicators that affect the federal funds market, such as GDP growth, unemployment, inflation, and consumer confidence levels among others.

Interest Rate - Everything you need to know

We did the research and narrowed down to ten sites that will help you get the information you need and make a decision. Keep reading to learn about each one.

We combined over twenty different criteria to establish out rankings with the help of cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence and expert contributors. These criteria include user reviews, content relevance, website reputation score, user votes, and more (We make sure to update these rankings on a regular basis so that the information is always up to date).

We've included the most useful Interest Rate videos in our review, as well as links to further resources for more information.

Interest Rate
Interest Rate

Interest in interest rate over time

According to our data there has been a growing interest in interest rate over the past few years. We estimate that there have been over 886,446 search engine searches in the United States in 2023 alone.

Top 10 Interest Rate and Interest Rate websites as ranked by people like you

The Community ranked the best Interest Rate websites so that you can find what you need. Help improve the ranking by voting too.

Last updated: 2024-04-22

Rank

Provider

Description & Features

Site

1

135

Current Mortgage Interest Rates | Bankrate®
Current Mortgage Interest Rates | Bankrate®
Mortgage interest rates determine your monthly payments over the life of the loan. Even a slight difference in rates can drive your monthly payments up or down, and you could pay thousands of ...

2

125

Current Mortgage Interest Rates | Wells Fargo
Current Mortgage Interest Rates | Wells Fargo
Annual Percentage Rate (APR) The cost to borrow money expressed as a yearly percentage. For mortgage loans, excluding home equity lines of credit, it includes the interest rate plus other charges or fees. For home equity lines, the APR is just the interest rate.

3

116

Interest Rate Definition - Investopedia
Interest Rate Definition - Investopedia
Interest rate is the amount charged, expressed as a percentage of principal, by a lender to a borrower for the use of assets. Interest rates are typically noted on an annual basis, known as the ...

4

107

Interest rate - Wikipedia
Interest rate - Wikipedia
An interest rate is the amount of interest due per period, as a proportion of the amount lent, deposited or borrowed (called the principal sum). The total interest on an amount lent or borrowed depends on the principal sum, the interest rate, the compounding frequency, and the length of time over which it is lent, deposited or borrowed. ...

5

99

Watch Your Money Grow | Interest.com
Watch Your Money Grow | Interest.com
Looking for the best and lowest interest rates today? Compare current interest rates on home loans, refinancing, cd rates, savings accounts, credit problems and auto loan rates.

6

92

Interest Rate: Definition, How They Work, Examples
Interest Rate: Definition, How They Work, Examples
An interest rate is the percentage of principal charged by the lender for the use of its money. The principal is the amount of money lent. As a result, banks pay you an interest rate on deposits. They are borrowing that money from you.

7

85

The Fed - H.15 - Selected Interest Rates (Daily ...
The Fed - H.15 - Selected Interest Rates (Daily ...
Interest rates interpolated from data on certain commercial paper trades settled by The Depository Trust Company. The trades represent sales of commercial paper by dealers or direct issuers to investors (that is, the offer side). The 1-, 2-, and 3-month rates are equivalent to the 30-, ...

8

79

Mortgage Rates Today | Current Mortgage Rates | Zillow
Mortgage Rates Today | Current Mortgage Rates | Zillow
Compare mortgage rates from multiple lenders in one place. It's fast, free, and anonymous.

9

73

United States Fed Funds Rate | 2019 | Data | Chart ...
United States Fed Funds Rate | 2019 | Data | Chart ...
Looking forward, we estimate Interest Rate in the United States to stand at 1.50 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the United States Fed Funds Rate is projected to trend around 2.00 percent in 2020, according to our econometric models.

10

68

Interest Calculator
Interest Calculator
LIBOR is a commercial rate calculated from prevailing interest rates between highly credit-worthy institutions. Our Interest Calculator deals with fixed interest rates only. Contributions. An important distinction to make regarding contributions are whether they occur at the beginning or end of compounding periods.

Top 10 ranking changes over time

Interest Rate videos considered

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