Economists forecast interest rates will remain lower at least for the coming

Under current conditions , only after you think about what house prices, your credit rating and your employment status will be down the line should you worry about where interest rates will be in one, three or five years. Economists expect rates to remain low for a year or so, then rise 2% to 3% as the effect of stimulus packages cause an increase in the consumer price index. A major aspect of the fixed-variable decision has always been risk management, which, in the past, meant figuring out how much risk were you willing to take on so savings in the short-term would outweigh possible increases later. "Risk management is a collection of issues. The problem, especially in the United States, was wanting to get everybody in a house. But there might be certain people who might be better off renting," says Moshe Milevsky, finance professor at York University and executive director of the Individual Finance and Insurance Decisions Centre.