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- Reviewed at intervals and then adjusted based on the current prime rate, the rate at which a commercial bank’s optimal customers can borrow money. This rate adjustment affects both the monthly payment as well as the interest rate of the loan. If you have an adjustable rate mortgage and the interest rate drops, then you benefit from the lower mortgage rate instead of being locked into the higher mortgage rate as you would be with a fixed mortgage. The risk, of course, is that if interest rates rise, then you are on the hook for those increase in payments as well. Adjustments can happen without much notice, and as often as eight times per year. Adjustable rate mortgages are beneficial if you can withstand fluctuation in monthly payments but want to take advantage of lower rates.