The Federal Reserve is making a rate cut decision on Thursday. Here's the impact on your money.

The Federal Reserve on Thursday is expected to cut interest rates for the second time this year, with the decision coming less than two months after its surprise jumbo cut in September. 

The Fed is expected to shave borrowing costs by 0.25 percentage points, or half the size of its September reduction, according to forecasts from economists polled by FactSet. That would bring the federal funds rate — the interest rate banks charge each other for borrowing money — down to a range of 4.5% to 4.75% from its current 4.75% to 5% level. 

With the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure dropping to 2.1% last month, just shy of the Fed's 2% goal, the central bank is easing off the brakes it applied when inflation hit a 40-year high during the pandemic. High borrowing costs have made it more expensive to buy everything from homes to cars.