A high-yield savings account (HYSA) and a certificate of deposit (CD) both pay materially more than a traditional bank savings account, but they protect against different risks. An HYSA pays a variable rate that can change at any time —…
Compare the best unsecured personal loans of 2026 from SoFi, LightStream, Upgrade, LendingClub, Best Egg, Upstart, Discover, and Prosper. APRs starting at 6.20%, with the national average at 12.27% (Bankrate, April 2026).
Your savings account earns a stated rate — a “nominal” return. What you actually take home in purchasing power is the “real” return, which subtracts inflation. With headline CPI at 3.3% year-over-year in March 2026 and top high-yield savings accounts…
APY and APR measure interest, but they are not the same number and they are not used for the same products. APY — Annual Percentage Yield — is what you earn on money you deposit into an interest-bearing account like…
A mortgage rate lock guarantees the interest rate on your mortgage for a set window — typically 30, 45, or 60 days — between approval and closing. The rate inside that window does not move even if market rates climb.…
A basis point — abbreviated “bp” or “bps” and pronounced “bip” or “beep” — is one-hundredth of a percentage point. One basis point equals 0.01%, and 100 basis points equal exactly 1%. The unit exists because the financial industry talks…
SOFR — the Secured Overnight Financing Rate — is the benchmark interest rate used to price more than $200 trillion of U.S. financial contracts, from adjustable-rate mortgages to private student loans to corporate credit facilities. It measures the cost of…
A yield curve inversion happens when short-term U.S. Treasury bonds pay higher interest than long-term Treasury bonds — the opposite of normal. The most-watched version is the spread between the 10-year Treasury yield and the 2-year Treasury yield. When that…
The Fed dot plot is a chart released four times a year — at the March, June, September, and December Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meetings — showing where each of the 19 FOMC participants thinks the federal funds rate…
A 0.25% prime rate change moves a $50K HELOC by $125 a year and a $150K SBA loan by $375. Here's exactly how each rate move hits your wallet.