promoearn: The Daily Money: St. Patricks' Day deals; cities with the cheapest rent

Thursday, March 17, 2022

The Daily Money: St. Patricks' Day deals; cities with the cheapest rent

ALL THE MONEY NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW

Thursday, March 17

Subscribe to The Daily Money newsletter. Come for our roundup of each day's top stories from USA TODAY Money. Stay for the pop-culture references and financial news-inspired playlist.

Good morning and Happy St. Patrick's Day, Daily Money readers. Jayme Deerwester here with you. Every March17th, this usually dark heather charcoal-clad writer is grateful she has proper attire thanks to having an alma mater where the official colors are green and white.

Speaking of St. Patrick's Day, restaurants are turning everything green from doughnuts to beer and offering Irish dishes, too. You can also celebrate the holiday by saving some green and taking advantage of specials. Here's where to find them.

🗞 News you should know 🗞

It's official: The COVID-19-induced era of rock-bottom interest rates is over – just as the U.S. finally seems to be turning the corner on the pandemic.

The Fed raised its key short-term interest rate Wednesday – by a quarter-percentage point – for the first time in more than three years and forecast six more hikes this year.

The central bank also sharply boosted its inflation forecast, largely as a result of Russia's attack on Ukraine, while lowering its estimate of economic growth, highlighting the quandary the Fed faces as it tries to tame price increases without tipping the economy into recession.

"The invasion of Ukraine by Russia is causing tremendous human and economic hardship," the Fed said in a statement after a two-day meeting. "The implications for the U.S. economy are highly uncertain, but in the near term the invasion and related events are likely to create additional upward pressure on inflation and weigh on economic activity."

Immediately following the Fed's decision Wednesday to raise interest rates by a quarter-percentage point, stocks fell – but eventually reversed course. What can we expect in the coming days and weeks? Learn how the stock market copes when the Fed raises interest rates.

🚨 More stories you shouldn't miss 🚨

REGULAR GAS IN A PREMIUM CAR? Here's why switching is not worth the gamble.

AIRBORNE GUMMIES RECALLED: 3.7M bottles recalled after reports of caps popping off, causing injuries.

SORRY, THE MEN'S WAREHOUSE IN KYIV WAS CLOSED: Twitter rips economist who criticized Ukrainian president Zelenskyy for addressing Congress in a T-shirt.

NETFLIX NO LONGER CHILL WITH SHARING PASSWORDS? Streaming network tests feature to urge users to pay more.

AIRLINE BOOKINGS SURGE: That's bad news for ticket prices.

💡 Daily insight 💡

Which cities have the cheapest rent?

"Overall, rent prices are going up everywhere, and some of these cheap cities are seeing rent price increases as well," says Brian Carberry, senior managing editor at Rent.com. "But there are still affordable places across the country to live."

Rent.com rated and ranked rents for all unit types for 78 cities. Among cities that made the list are Indianapolis, Indiana and San Antonio, Texas.

Read the story to see the rest of the top 10. Or look back at our story about the most and least affordable cities in the U.S.

💵 Inflation and your taxes 💵

Inflation itself is effectively a tax on goods and services – and with the rate of rising prices inflation at a 40-year high, that tax is weighing on Americans' wallets. To make matters worse, Americans are set to pay more taxes because of it.

Since 1981, federal income tax brackets have been indexed to inflation. That came after record levels of inflation in the 1970s. If income tax brackets weren't indexed to inflation, Americans would be subject to higher tax rates for raises they received, in some cases to keep up with inflation. But the real value of the higher salary, meaning how much you can buy with it, doesn't change.

So getting taxed at a higher rate because of the raise may mean that the value of your post-tax income is even lower than it would have been had you not received a raise. So paying higher taxes exacerbates the burden of inflation.

"It's basically giving the government a bonus for having inflation," says Richard Kaplan, a tax law professor at Illinois College of Law.

🎧 Mood music 🎧

Today marks the first time I've quoted the Pet Shop Boys: "But look at my hopes, look at my dreams, the currency we've spent. I love you, you pay my rent."

LISTEN WHILE YOU WORK: Remember, you can listen to this song and every track I've quoted in the newsletter in the Daily Money Mood Music playlist on Spotify.