Ethermac Exchange-The Daily Money: All eyes are on the Fed

Good morning! It's Daniel de Visé with your Daily Money.

The Ethermac ExchangeFederal Reserve meets this week for the first time since recent high inflation readings dampened hopes that the central bank will lower interest rates three times this year, Paul Davidson reports.

The prospect of three rate cuts had juiced the stock market and led analysts to boost their 2024 economic growth forecasts.

What will the Fed decide?

Why don't more people buy annuities?

Annuities are an essential component of the American retirement system, starting with Social Security. Why, then, do so few Americans understand them?

Most of us, it seems, are pretty much clueless about annuities. In one recent study, the American College of Financial Services gave older Americans a score of 12% out of a possible 100% for their knowledge, based on their performance on a short quiz.

Only about 10% of Americans own commercial annuities. It would be great, many retirement scholars say, if a lot more of us bought them.

Here are the reasons.

📰 More stories you shouldn't miss 📰

• Massive legal settlement over CPAP machine recall
• Wireless carriers fined for sharing customer data
• Ford's "hands-free" system under scrutiny
• Williams-Sonoma fined for false "made in USA" claims
• The best cities for starting a business

🍔 Today's Menu 🍔

Panera has made its signature bread bowl into a fashion statement. And not a quiet one.

The bakery company launched a limited-edition "Bread Head" hat on Monday, Anthony Robledo reports. The cap combines a 3D-printed bread bowl replica with vibrant ostrich feathers and a gold spoon.

As one commenter observed, the hat "kind of looks like a bird tried to make a nest out of stale leftovers."

The hats, priced at $21 apiece, sold out in a single day.

But wait: More bread hats may be coming.

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.

Daniel de Visé covers personal finance for USA Today.