Not all debt reacts to a rate hike the same way. Credit cards, which are almost always variable-rate, tend to reprice the fastest — often within a single billing cycle — making them the sharpest and quickest pain point for borrowers carrying a balance.
Auto loans sit in the middle: rates for new loans rise close to real time with Fed moves, but anyone who already locked in a fixed auto loan is untouched — the pain is limited to future buyers, not past ones.
Mortgages are the most complex. Existing fixed-rate mortgages are completely insulated, but new mortgage rates can move even before the Fed officially acts, since markets price in expectations ahead of the announcement. This is why the size of a rate hike's real-world pain depends less on the headline number and more on what kind of debt a household actually carries.
The bottom line: The same interest rate headline can mean nothing to your neighbor and everything to you — it all depends on what's already locked in versus what still needs a rate.