These aren’t your grandpa’s high interest rates

High(er) interest rates are here and probably not going anywhere anytime soon. Today’s inflation numbers almost guarantee that the Federal Reserve will raise rates by another three-quarters of a percentage point.

But it’s been such a long time since the U.S. economy has been in a high-interest-rate environment that many of us are wondering exactly how to navigate our personal finances.

“I think you really do have to reassess your relationship with credit because a lot of us, if we’re honest, have leaned on borrowing to excessive levels. And that’s particularly true with credit card debt,” said Lynnette Khalfani-Cox, personal finance expert and author of the book “Zero Debt: The Ultimate Guide to Financial Freedom.”

On the show today, Khalfani-Cox explains what high interest rates mean for consumers and why they aren’t translating into higher savings rates. As always, consult your own personal finance expert before making financial decisions.

Later, we’ll talk about the latest inflation report and look into whether child poverty is really getting better. We’ll do the numbers.

Then, stick around to hear what artificial intelligence has to do with French fries, and a philosopher drops some wisdom on us.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

• “How to take advantage of rising interest rates” from CNN
• “Money and millennials: The cost of living in 2022 vs. 1972” from Marketplace
• Pandemic Aid Reduced Poverty Again in 2021, Census Bureau Reports from The New York Times
• “The official U.S. poverty rate is based on a hopelessly out-of-date metric” from The New York Times
• “US inflation still stubbornly high despite August slowdown” from The Associated Press

Join us tomorrow for Whaddya Wanna Know Wednesday. And if you’ve got a question about money, business or the economy, leave us a voice mail at 508-U-B-SMART or email us at makemesmart@marketplace.org.