When will the Fed cut interest rates in 2024? Here's what experts now say and the impact on your money.

A top question on the minds of investors and consumers alike is when might the Federal Reserve make its first interest rate cut after two years of rapid hikes, which have sent mortgage and credit card rates soaring. But after Tuesday's hotter-than-forecast inflation report, economists have a partial answer: Expect to wait longer.

Even before Tuesday's inflation data, the Federal Reserve had signaled that it would take a cautious approach. Fed chair Jerome Powell told CBS News' "60 Minutes" earlier this month that the central bank wants to have more confidence that inflation is receding "before we take that very important step of beginning to cut interest rates."

The Federal Reserve began hiking rates in March 2022 to battle red-hot inflation, relying on an effective tool to depress consumer spending and tamp down price increases. The central bank's 11 rate hikes since then have helped bring down the annual inflation rate to 3.1% in January from a high of 9.1% in June 2022, but January's number was higher than economists had projected — and remains above the Fed's goal of driving inflation down to 2%.