You can get a loan with a fixed interest rate or a variable interest rate. The interest rate is the extra amount of money you have to pay back for taking out the loan. A fixed rate doesn't change the entire time you have the loan--even if the economy fails and everybody else has to get higher interest rates. However, the rates are usually set up higher and you end up paying more in the long run if you have a lengthy loan. If the economy does poorly, you might save money in a fixed rate because variable rates will spike.