As Recently As 2007, Banks Were Paying 4% Interest

by on with No Comments

In “How Does the Fed Control Interest Rates in a Free Market?” we wrote:

Even as recently as 2007, banks were paying 4% interest. Now you have to go to the hundredth decimal before you find your interest rate. We have the Federal Reserve’s manipulation of the bond market to blame for this change.

Here is a chart of taxable money market interest rates:

Taxable Money Market Rates 2006 - 2014

Many people don’t understand that official inflation no longer measures actual inflation. But we can see the effects in everything we buy, including the Big Mac Inflation Index:

Big Mac CPI Index

Most people understand the risks of the stock market. But few people understand how keeping your money “safe” might lose half of it in 16 years. Nor do they understand how investing mostly in bonds might mean a much lower lifestyle in retirement.

In retirement planning, these are the deep risks we are more concerned about than the passing volatility of a single asset class over a two year period.

Related Articles

  1. How Does The Fed Control Interest Rates In A Free Market?
  2. US Bonds Drop Value in 2013 Q2 As Interest Rates Rise
  3. Lessons from the Crash of 2007-2008
  4. Tax Freedom Day Arrives on April 30, 2007
  5. Energy Stocks Have Been Disappointing Recently (April 2020)

We have no secret ingredient at Marotta Wealth Management. Instead, we openly and publicly publish our strategies as articles on our website.

Click to subscribe to our free, weekly email

Follow David John Marotta:

President, CFP®, AIF®, AAMS®

David John Marotta is the Founder and President of Marotta Wealth Management. He played for the State Department chess team at age 11, graduated from Stanford, taught Computer and Information Science, and still loves math and strategy games. In addition to his financial writing, David is a co-author of The Haunting of Bob Cratchit.