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How the Fed's rate increase can affect the consumer?

Here is a look at how Fed's decision will affect everyday-consume life:

How the Fed’s rate increase can affect the consumer?
Giovanni Russonello
Last Updated : Dec 16 2016 | 1:31 AM IST
Mortgages
 
In general, movement of the Fed’s rate does not have a large, direct impact on long-term mortgage rates. But when the Fed’s rate goes up, banks find ways to pass their higher borrowing costs along to consumers.
 
Credit card rates
 
The annual percentage rate on your credit card can be anywhere from 15 per cent to 20 per cent. An uptick in the Fed’s interest rate might cause your credit card’s APR, if it’s variable as opposed to fixed at a specific rate, to bounce by one or two percentage points
 
Student loans
 
Federal loans are tied to the 10-year Treasury rate, which factors in the Fed’s anticipated interest rates over the coming decade. Because these rates are projected to tick up steadily by the Fed’s own forecasts, students planning to take out loans in the next few years can expect the government’s student loan rates to rise.
 
Car loans
 

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Rates for car loans, too, are already climbing in response to the Fed’s move. Auto loans tend to last only a few years, so there is still time for car buyers to get ahead of the curve.
 
Housing rentals
 
Higher rates mean that landlords must pay more to purchase and renovate their properties, so in the long run, those are costs they could easily pass on to renters — though it’s not certain.

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First Published: Dec 16 2016 | 1:17 AM IST

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