Tuesday, December 12, 2006

RANT: What Interest Rate is a "High Interest Rate"?

I should always copy or mail MSN money articles to myself when I see them, because I can never find them again later- they disappear into the MSN black hole/vortex. So of course now I can't link you to the article. You'll just have to trust me. (ha)

I was reading one yesterday about how to "give your kids a million dollars." Basically they told you how much you needed to invest when your child was born, and monthly payments into the various accounts per month, to give your kid a million dollars (approximately) when they turn 18. I thought the whole idea was pretty interesting. There was also a column for how much you had to give if you didn't start saving until the kid was 5, etc.

Then there was a disclaimer stating that until you have your high interest rate debt paid off, this isn't something you should be thinking about doing. So what qualifies as a "high interest rate"? Anything above the going market rate for a mortgage? How much higher? Obviously 5% is low and 20% is high, but there has to be a commonly accepted formula for what counts as high interest.

The whole thing was depressing.

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