Effective Interest Rate
The term effective interest rate is the actual return from a savings account or any investment where you pay interest when considering the effects of compounding costs over time. Through an effective interest rate, you can fully and correctly determine the real percentage rate that you own on a loan’s interest, a credit card, or any other debt type.
An effective interest rate is also referred to as an effective annual interest rate, the annual equivalent rate, or the effective rate.
The Effective Interest Rate Formula:
With:
i = Nominal Interest Rate
n = Number of periods
What does the Effective Interest Rate Mean?
When you look at loans, the way through which they are advertised will give you two types of information. Firstly, we’ll have the nominal interest rate, which doesn’t consider the effects compounding interest or fees have on the financial product. Secondly, and the one we focus on now, the effective interest rate, which gives you the real return paid on savings of the actual cost of a loan because it does take into account the effect fees and compounding interest have on the financial product.
For that exact reason, knowing and understanding what the effective interest rate means is important. Through a proper understanding of the effective interest rate, you can compare offers more accurately to make an informed decision based on the result.
How to Find the Effective Interest Rate?
To adequately explain how to find the effective interest rate from any financial product’s promotional information, we will look at two examples. Firstly, we’ll have Loan A that has a 5% interest rate that’s compounded monthly. Secondly, we’ll have Loan B with a 5.1% interest rate that’s compounded bi-annually.
Both of these loans are advertised with their nominal interest rate. Remember, this is the one that doesn’t take into account the effects fees and compounding interest has on the loan. To calculate the effective interest rate, we’ll use the formula shown above.
While the nominal interest rate for Loan A is smaller than that of Loan B’s, the effective interest rate from Loan B is lower than that of Loan A’s. This occurs because Loan B has fewer compounding times over the course of a year.
Popular Real Estate Terms
Contractual clause freeing a party from personal liability. Foe example, an exculpatory clause in a mortgage agreement provides a mortgagor the ability to surrender a mortgage property in ...
There are two definitions of annexation in real estate. The first definition of annexation in real estate deals with the expansion of cities and the accompanying zoning laws. When a city ...
In real estate, a buffer zone refers to an area of land that acts as a transitional space between two different types of land use or properties. It’s like a neutral ground that ...
Geographic location that is gradually being developed as an urban area. ...
Possession and use of a property estate by virtue of a lease. There are four types of leasehold estates: estate for years, periodic tenancy, tenancy at will, and tenant at sufferance. ...
Agreement in which some terms are yet to be carried out. The contract is still not fully completed. ...
Replacement of a major component of property by another component that will result in better performance capability. Increases overall efficiency of the property. ...
Formal, written, unconditional promise to pay on demand or at a future date a definite sum of money. The person signing the note and promising to pay is called the maker of the note. The ...
Bank modifies the borrower's mortgage obligation, such as when the bank approves the homeowner's request for an extension of time to pay because of illness or loss of a job. One's ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.