interest rates

Becoming a homeowner is a rite of passage in America, while renting gets no respect. But when you look at how we really live, it turns out that, even ignoring the recent crash, home ownership isn't the great deal for our finances that we've been led to believe.

Millions of homeowners have garnered huge savings in recent years from one simple move: refinancing their mortgages. Now, the refinancing craze has spread to an unexpected industry: car loans. Could an auto refi be a smart move for you?

Eenie, meenie, miney, moe -- where should my cash savings go? That's the riddle many Americans are trying to figure out these days. After the necessities are taken care of, it's time to choose: mattress, stock market or mortgage? Do the math and the answer is clear.

The National Association of Realtors reported this week that sales of existing homes rose 4.3% in January, their third rise in four months. But there are other housing trends to consider that are much more telling than a modest uptick in sales.

If you're burdened by credit card debt, lenders want to help you -- by adding more plastic to your arsenal in the form of a balance transfer card, which offers generous up-front terms for moving your debt. And some of those offers are much more generous than others.

Debt consolidation loans may seem like a great way to manage debt without taking the drastic step of declaring personal bankruptcy, but in many cases the too-good-to-be-true promise of significantly lower monthly payments are just that: an illusion.

Savers love cash-back cards, which return a fraction of what you spend in good old U.S. currency. Disciplined consumers can bank hundreds of dollars yearly: The key is knowing how to maximize your payback.

Banks offer all sorts of credit cards. For the savers, there are cash-back cards. For the indebted, there are balance transfer cards. For the shoppers, there are retail cards. And for travelers like me, there are rewards cards.

The Federal Reserve went further than ever Wednesday to assure consumers and businesses that they'll be able to borrow cheaply well into the future. The Fed pushed back the earliest date for any likely increase in its benchmark interest rate by at least a year and a half, until at least late 2014. It said record-low rates are still needed to help boost an improving but still sluggish economy.

For the first time in several decades, the 30-year annualized returns of Treasury bonds surpassed the dividend adjusted gains of the S&P 500 in 2011. Take a picture if you want -- because this won't last.