The Daily Money

ALL THE MONEY NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW

Wed Jan 31 2024

Betty Lin-Fisher | Consumer reporter

@blinfisher

Good morning. It's Wednesday, and this is Betty Lin-Fisher with today's The Daily Money. I'm helping my colleague, Daniel de Visé, as he is covering the Federal Reserve today. We're watching to see what action the Fed might take with interest rates.

Are you among the 48 million Americans who are caring for your loved one at home?

Sixty-one of those family caregivers are also holding down a part-time or full-time job. Or trying. The toll financially and mentally is huge. They are doing everything from helping prepare meals and paying bills to assisting with medication and medical/nursing tasks. It's all to help parents, spouses and loved ones live independently in their homes.

A bill being introduced this morning by a group of bi-partisan Senators and members of the U.S. House of Representatives could offer some relief.

Here's how The Credit for Caring Act, if passed, would help caregivers.

A bi-partisan bill being proposed in Congress, if passed, will provide a tax credit for family caregivers.

kate_sept2004, Getty Images

What will happen to interest rates?

The Fed s expected to hold interest rates steady today at the end of its two-day meeting, leaving them perched at a 23-year high as the market ponders when the Fed might start cutting.

•	The Fed's decision will be announced at 2:00 p.m. ET today.
•	Fed Chair Jerome Powell is expected to speak at 2:30 p.m. ET, following the central bank's first meeting of the year.
•	Powell's remarks will likely give insight into whether the Fed will start cutting interest rates later in 2024, reducing borrowing costs for consumers as well as businesses.

If you want to keep up with what the Fed is doing today, check out our live coverage here.

📰 Consumer stories you shouldn't miss 📰

•	What happens to your student-loan debt if you drop out?
•	Travel stress is a real thing.
•	Facebook and other CEOs will address child privacy on social media at a Senate hearing.
•	A travel warning is issued for a popular Caribbean hotspot.
•	The Stanley-insulated cup craze has now hit babies.

🍔 Today's Menu 🍔

Be on the lookout for a burgler on the roads! Well, really a Hamburglar. McDonald's Hamburglar mascot is going on a coast-to-coast road trip in his "Burgercuda" (a 1970 Plymouth Barracuda). If you spot it, you could win free merchandise or burgers for a year. Get the juicy details here.

About The Daily Money

Each weekday, The Daily Money delivers the best consumer news from USA TODAY. We break down financial news and provide the TLDR version: how decisions by the Federal Reserve, government and companies impact you.