CBS News
3 moves savers should make ahead of the upcoming inflation report
Getty Images
The U.S. inflation report is scheduled to be released this week, and depending on what it shows, the new inflation data could have a big impact on the economy. After all, inflation plays a significant role in the decisions that the Federal Reserve makes regarding interest rates — which are currently paused at a 23-year high.
When prices grow too quickly, the Fed will typically increase its federal funds rate to discourage spending — a move that typically drives up the cost of borrowing and returns on savings. When prices aren’t growing as fast as they should, the Fed generally reduces interest rates, which drives down the cost of borrowing and returns on savings.
In turn, the upcoming inflation report could set the stage for changes to monetary policy that could have an impact on your financial well-being. But what should savers do, in particular, to prepare for the upcoming inflation report?
Compare today’s leading high-yield savings accounts now.
3 moves savers should make ahead of the upcoming inflation report
Here’s what savers should do to prepare for the upcoming inflation report:
Open a CD and lock in today’s rate
The Fed paused rate hikes late last year and rates remain paused today. However, most experts expect the Fed to start dropping rates mid-year.
Should the new inflation data show a downward trend, financial institutions could start reducing their certificate of deposit (CD) rates in anticipation of the Federal Reserve’s next moves. So, locking in today’s high CD returns may prove advantageous, as you’ll continue to earn that same rate for the full CD term, no matter what happens with the wider rate environment during that time.
But there is one caveat to consider. When you open a CD, you typically agree to leave your money in the account until it matures. In turn, you may have to pay an early withdrawal penalty to access your funds before the CD term is over. So, it’s important to ensure that you can leave your money untouched in the account to avoid those penalties.
Still, an early withdrawal penalty can be an advantage in some cases. For example, agreeing to keep your money in the account for its entire term can help you achieve your savings goals.
Lock in today’s high returns with a CD now.
Open a high-yield savings account
Keeping all of your savings in a CD may not be the best approach. After all, you should maintain an emergency fund that you can tap into if you fall on hard times, and CD access is limited. High-yield savings accounts, on the other hand, offer access to your funds and high interest rates on your money.
Traditional savings accounts currently have average returns of 0.46%, but high-yield savings accounts currently offer rates that are much higher on average. That’s important because your money needs to keep pace with or surpass the inflation rate (currently 3.1%) or it loses buying power.
As such, it makes sense to tap into today’s high savings rates to earn a meaningful return as long as you can. Just note, though, that the rates on high-yield savings accounts are variable, meaning that they can change over time due to shifts in the wider rate environment. But even if rates trend down in the future, by opening a high-yield savings account now, you will start earning a meaningful return on your high-yield savings account right away.
Add gold to your portfolio
The inflation rate has been cooling and many experts expect it to continue to drop over time. But, if those expectations are incorrect and inflation comes in hotter than expected on the upcoming report, gold could be a valuable asset to own.
And that’s due, in large part, to gold’s unique inflation-hedging qualities and other unique benefits. For example, the value of the dollar can decline during periods of high inflation, so investors tend to turn to assets that can act as a safe haven for their money — which gold can do. As such, when inflation rates are high, the demand for gold typically ticks up — sending its price up as well.
Open a high-yield savings account now to maximize returns on your savings.
The bottom line
With new inflation data expected to be released this week, there are a few moves you can make beforehand to help maximize and protect your savings. For starters, it may benefit you to open a CD and lock in a high rate or maximize your returns with a high-yield savings account for your emergency savings. And, it may be wise to invest some of your savings in gold to take advantage of any potential gains — just in case inflation comes in higher than expected again.
A judge in France on Thursday found the former husband of Gisèle Pelicot, who admitted to drugging and raping her repeatedly over the course of almost a decade and inviting dozens of other men to assault her as well, guilty of aggravated rape. Over the course of her trial, Pelicot — who insisted her full name be published and proceedings be made public — has been praised for her courage and become a symbol of the fight against sexual violence in France and around the world. The judge on Thursday was reading out verdicts for dozens of other men also accused of raping her.
Pelicot arrived Thursday at the court in Avignon, southeast France, where crowds had gathered outside holding signs saying: “Thank you for your courage.”
The trial began on Sept. 2, and almost every day, Pelicot came face to face with her former husband, Dominique, or one of the 49 other men charged with raping her. One other man faced a charge of aggravated sexual assault. She insisted that videos submitted as evidence, made by her ex-husband showing men sexually assaulting her while she appeared to be unconscious, be shown in open court.
The assaults took place between 2011 and 2020, when Dominique Pelicot was taken into custody. Police found thousands of photos and videos of the abuse on his computer drives, which helped lead them to other suspects. Some of the men testified they thought the unconscious woman was OK with it, or that her husband’s permission was enough.
“Gisèle Pelicot thinks that this shock wave is necessary, so that no one can say after this: ‘I didn’t know this was rape,'” her attorney, Stéphane Babonneau, told The Associated Press.
“It’s not for us to feel shame — it’s for them,” Pelicot said in court, referring to the attackers. “Above all, I’m expressing my will and determination to change this society.”
Controversial French laws
Pelicot’s case triggered protests across France, and there was hope among some demonstrators that the case could lead to changes in controversial French laws governing sexual consent.
France introduced a legal age of sexual consent in 2021 after a public outcry over the rape of an 11-year-old schoolgirl by a man who was initially convicted on a lesser charge. Since then, sex with anyone under the age of 15 has been viewed as non-consensual, but French law does not refer to consent in cases involving older victims.
Under French law, rape is defined as penetration or oral sex using “violence, coercion, threat or surprise,” without taking consent into account, according to the Reuters news agency. Prosecutors must, therefore, prove an intention to rape if they are to be successful in court, legal experts told Reuters.
Just 14% of rape accusations in France lead to formal investigations, according to a study by the Institute of Public Policies.
“Why don’t we manage to obtain convictions? The first reason is the law,” legal expert Catherine Le Magueresse told Reuters. “The law is written in such a way that victims must comply with the stereotype of a ‘good victim’ and a ‘true rape’: an unknown attacker, use of violence, and the victim’s resistance. But it is only true for a minority of rapes.”
“I’m trying to understand”
Speaking in court during the trial, Pelicot, who is 72, talked about how she had thought she was in a loving marriage with her husband and would never have guessed that he was drugging her.
“We would have a glass of white wine together. I never found anything strange about my potatoes,” Pelicot told the court.
“We finished eating. Often when it’s a football match on TV, I’d let him watch it alone. He brought my ice cream to my bed, where I was. My favorite flavor — raspberry — and I thought: ‘How lucky I am. He’s a love.'”
She said she didn’t have any sensation of being drugged.
“I never felt my heart flutter. I didn’t feel anything. I must have gone under very quickly. I would wake up with my pajamas on,” Pelicot told the court, adding that she would sometimes wake up “more tired than usual, but I walk a lot and thought it was that.”
“I’m trying to understand,” she said, “how this husband, who was the perfect man, could have got to this.”
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters says workers at seven Amazon facilities will begin a strike Thursday morning in an effort by the union to pressure the e-commerce giant for a labor agreement during a key shopping period.
The Teamsters say the workers, who authorized walkouts in the past few days, are joining the picket line after Amazon ignored a Dec. 15 deadline the union set for contract negotiations. Amazon says it doesn’t expect any impact on its operations during what the union calls the largest strike against the company in U.S. history.
The Teamsters say they represent nearly 10,000 workers at 10 Amazon facilities, a small portion of the 1.5 million people Amazon employs in its warehouses and corporate offices.
Amazon is ranked No. 2 on the Fortune 500 list of the nation’s largest companies.
At a warehouse in the New York City borough of Staten Island, thousands of workers who voted for the Amazon Labor Union in 2022 and have since affiliated with the Teamsters. At the other facilities, employees – including many delivery drivers – have unionized with them by demonstrating majority support but without holding government-administered elections.
The strikes happening Thursday are taking place at an Amazon warehouse in San Francisco and six delivery stations in southern California, New York City, Atlanta and the Chicago suburb of Skokie, Illinois, according to the union’s announcement. Amazon workers at the other facilities are “prepared to join” them, the union said.
“Amazon is pushing its workers closer to the picket line by failing to show them the respect they have earned,” Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien said in a statement.
“If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon’s insatiable greed. We gave Amazon a clear deadline to come to the table and do right by our members. They ignored it,” he said.
The Seattle-based online retailer has been seeking to re-do the election that led to the union victory at the warehouse on Staten Island, which the Teamsters now represent. In the process, the company has filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the National Labor Relations Board.
Meanwhile, Amazon says the delivery drivers, which the Teamsters have organized for more than a year, aren’t its employees. Under its business model, the drivers work for third-party businesses, called Delivery Service Partners, who drop off millions of packages to customers everyday.
“For more than a year now, the Teamsters have continued to intentionally mislead the public – claiming that they represent ‘thousands of Amazon employees and drivers’. They don’t, and this is another attempt to push a false narrative,” Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said in a statement. “The truth is that the Teamsters have actively threatened, intimidated, and attempted to coerce Amazon employees and third-party drivers to join them, which is illegal and is the subject of multiple pending unfair labor practice charges against the union.“
The Teamsters have argued Amazon essentially controls everything the drivers do and should be classified as an employer.
Some U.S. labor regulators have sided with the union in filings made before the NLRB. In September, Amazon boosted pay for the drivers amid the growing pressure.
NEW YORK — The Teamsters union is launching a strike against Amazon at numerous locations across the country, including in Maspeth, Queens.
The Teamsters are calling it the largest strike against Amazon in United States history, and it’s set to begin at 6 a.m. Thursday. In addition to New York City, workers will be joining picket lines in Atlanta, Southern California, San Francisco and Illinois.
In a video announcement released Wednesday night, workers voiced their frustrations.
“Us being strike ready means we’re fed up, and Amazon is clearly ignoring us and we want to be heard,” one worker says in the video.
“It’s really exciting. We’re taking steps for ourselves to win better conditions, better benefits, better wages,” another worker in the video says.
The union says it represents about 10,000 Amazon employees and that Amazon ignored a deadline to come to the table and negotiate. The $2 trillion company doesn’t pay employees enough to make ends meet, the union asserts.
At the height of the holiday season, many are wondering what this means for packages currently in transit.
Teamsters President Sean O’Brien said, “If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon’s insatiable greed.”
Amazon says Teamsters are misleading the public
An Amazon spokesperson says the Teamsters are misleading the public and do not represent any Amazon employees, despite any claims.
“The truth is that the Teamsters have actively threatened, intimidated, and attempted to coerce Amazon employees and third-party drivers to join them, which is illegal and is the subject of multiple pending unfair labor practice charges against the union,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
An Amazon representative says the company doesn’t expect operations to be impacted.
