After pushing interest rates up at a blistering pace — 10 straight hikes over 15 months — the Federal Reserve on Wednesday decided to hit the pause button at its latest meeting. Where does that leave consumers? Still facing high rates in many ways that directly affect their financial lives. “Borrowing costs are the highest in years,” said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.com. But in some instances, high interest rates can actually be good news for you.
Your best bet in that case is to find a good balance-transfer card with an initial 0% rate for up to 21 months. Then pay off what you owe in the coming months before that 0% rate expires. If you don’t, then your remaining balance will be subject to a much higher rate — and perhaps even higher than what you had before you transferred your balance — if the Fed resumes raising rates at some point this year.