Here’s a breakdown of five ways another rate increase could affect you, in terms of how it may affect your credit card, car loan, mortgage, student debt and savings deposits.

1. Credit cards
Since most credit cards have a variable rate, there’s a direct connection to the Fed’s benchmark. As the federal funds rate rises, the prime rate does, as well, and credit card rates follow suit.

The average credit card rate is now more than 20%, an all-time high, while balances are higher and nearly half of credit card holders carry credit card debt from month to month, according to a Bankrate report.

2. Adjustable-rate mortgages
Adjustable-rate mortgages and home equity lines of credit are also pegged to the prime rate. Now, the average rate for a HELOC is up to 8.58%, the highest in 22 years, according to Bankrate.

Since 15-year and 30-year mortgage rates are fixed and tied to Treasury yields and the economy, homeowners won’t be affected immediately by a rate hike. However, anyone shopping for a new home has lost considerable purchasing power, partly because of inflation and the Fed’s policy moves.

The average rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage currently sits at 6.78%, according to Freddie Mac.

Even though auto loans are fixed, payments are getting bigger because the price for all cars is rising along with the interest rates on new loans.

For those planning on purchasing a new car in the next few months, the Fed’s move could push up the average interest rate on a new car loan even more. The average rate on a five-year new-car loan is already at 7.2%, the highest in 15 years, according to Edmunds.

Paying an annual percentage rate of 7.2% instead of last year’s 5.2% could cost consumers $2,273 more in interest over the course of a $40,000, 72-month car loan, according to data from Edmunds.

4. Student loans
Federal student loan rates are also fixed, so most borrowers aren’t immediately affected by the Fed’s moves. But as of July, undergraduate students who take out new direct federal student loans will pay an interest rate of 5.50%, up from 4.99% in the 2022-23 academic year.

For now, anyone with existing federal education debt will benefit from rates at 0% until student loan payments restart in October.

Private student loans tend to have a variable rate tied to the Libor, prime or Treasury bill rates, and that means as the Fed raises rates, those borrowers will also pay more in interest. But how much more will vary with the benchmark.

5. Savings accounts

While the Fed has no direct influence on deposit rates, the yields tend to be correlated to changes in the target federal funds rate. The savings account rates at some of the largest retail banks, which were near rock bottom during most of the Covid-19 pandemic, are currently up to 0.42%, on average.

Due in part to lower overhead expenses, top-yielding online savings account rates are now at more than 5%, the highest since the 2008 financial crisis, with some short-term certificates of deposit even higher, according to Bankrate.