What the Fed’s fourth 0.75 percentage point rate hikes means for you

The Federal Reserve raised the target federal funds rate by 0.75 percentage point for the fourth time in a row on Wednesday, marking an unprecedented pace of rate hikes.

The U.S. central bank has raised the benchmark short-term borrowing rate a total of six times this year, including 75 basis point increases in June, July and September, in an effort to cool down inflation, which is still near 40-year highs and causing most consumers to feel increasingly cash strapped. A basis point is equal to 0.01 of a percentage point.

“Americans are under greater financial strain, there’s no question,” said Chester Spatt, professor of finance at Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business and former chief economist of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

More from Personal Finance:
How Fed’s interest rate hikes made borrowing costlier
Tips to help stretch your paycheck amid high inflation
‘Ugly times’ are pushing record annuity sales

However, “as the Fed tightens, this also has adverse effects on everyday Americans,” he added.

The federal funds rate, which is set by the central bank, is the interest rate at which banks borrow and lend to one another overnight. Although that’s not the rate consumers pay, the Fed’s moves still affect the borrowing and saving rates they see every day.

By raising rates, the Fed makes it costlier to take out a loan, causing people to borrow and spend less, effectively pumping the brakes on the economy and slowing down the pace of price increases. 

“Unfortunately, the economy will slow much faster than inflation, so we’ll feel the pain well before we see any gain,” said Greg McBride, Bankrate.com’s chief financial analyst.

Already, “mortgage rates have rocketed to 16-year highs, home equity lines of credit are the highest in 14 years, and car loan rates are at 11-year highs,” he said.