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
Financial standing of a debtor as a basis to pay obligations. ...
A testator/testatrix who donates real property. ...
People often ask themselves, what does interim mean? By definition, interim means a break or pause in a particular activity. As an adjective, interim means a temporary, provisional, or ...
Hallow masonry wall consisting of an inner and outer wall with dead air space between them. The air space provides increased thermal insulation. Cavity walls are not used in northern ...
Loan guaranty program included in the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944. Its provisions cover the compensation to lenders for losses they might sustain in providing financing to ...
Document issued by a governmental agency permitting the recipient to do something. An example is a building permit to construct a structure. ...
The definition of option explains the term as something that can be chosen in spite of having multiple other alternatives. It could be an option for food, which shows a preference for one ...
The abstract of judgment definition is best explained as a written summary of the judgment passed by a court. This abstract of judgment includes the amount of money the losing party of a ...
As a hopeful house hunter, renter, or seasoned real estate investor, you've probably come across baffling terms. One such term is "adhesion contract." It might sound complex, but don't ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.