Interest rates on everything from home-equity lines of credit to credit cards have been climbing for months, and they're headed higher. The Federal Reserve Board is expected to raise rates again Tuesday. That's good news if you're a saver. If you're a borrower, Alan Greenspan is your nemesis.

But not all interest rates are rising. Long-term rates have remained low. This phenomenon creates opportunities and pitfalls for borrowers and savers. Some examples:

Turning your home into a piggy bank is getting more expensive. Last week, the average rate for a home-equity line of credit was 6.53 percent, the highest since September 2001, according to Bankrate.com. Rates on home-equity lines are variable, so if the Fed continues to boost short-term rates, interest on these loans will go higher.

One way to avoid rate creep is to take out a home-equity loan. With these loans, you receive a lump sum and agree to make monthly payments until the loan is repaid. The interest rate is fixed, and it's typically higher than the rate for a home-equity line of credit. Recently, though, the difference has narrowed: The average rate for a home-equity loan was 7.13 percent last week.

Another strategy is a cash-out refinancing. With a cash-out refinancing, your existing mortgage is refinanced for a larger amount, using equity you've accumulated in your home. You take out some of that equity in cash. The average rate on a fixed-rate, 30-year mortgage is 5.73 percent, according to mortgage giant Freddie Mac, lower than the average for a home-equity line or loan.

A cash-out refinancing makes sense if it will lower the rate on your existing fixed-rate mortgage or refinance an adjustable-rate mortgage to a fixed-rate loan, says Greg McBride, senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com. But if you already have a low fixed-rate mortgage, it's not a good idea, he says. When you refinance, you usually have to pay closing costs. So unless you can offset those costs by lowering your rate, "There's no incentive to refinance," he says.

The average rate for a one-year Adjustable Rate Mortgage was 4.42 percent last week, the highest since August 2002. Meanwhile, the 5.73 percent average for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was down from 5.98 percent a year ago.

Ordinarily, borrowers pay a premium for the security of a fixed-rate mortgage. But now, you can lock in a rate for up to 30 years without paying much more than you would for a loan that could adjust to a higher amount.

The difference between long-term mortgages and ARMs "is so narrow that there's less and less incentive each day to take an adjustable-rate product," McBride says.

Rates on CDs have been rising, but probably not as quickly as some savers would like.

The average yield on a six-month CD rose to 2.46 percent last week, while the yield on a one-year CD was 2.83 percent, according to Bankrate.com. A year ago, yields on those CDs were 1.13 percent and 1.57 percent, respectively.

AVOID LONG-TERM CD COMMITMENTS

The best strategy for savers is to avoid long-term commitments. The average rate for a five-year CD was 3.76 percent last week, vs. 3.62 percent a year ago. Those rates are too low to justify locking up your money for five years, according to Greg McBride, senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com. A six-month CD is a better choice: Those yields have shown the biggest improvement, and if rates move higher, you'll be able to reinvest the money in six months.