2.1 Investments & Loans, loan schedules, capital outstanding,  (Page 2/4)

Now, let's see the same thing again, but with R2 000 being repaid each year. We expect the numbers to change. However, how much will they change by? As before, we owe R1 425 in interest in interest. After one month. However, we are paying R2 000 this time. That leaves R575 that goes towards paying off the capital outstanding, reducing it to R189 425. By the end of the second month, the interest owed is R1 420,69 (That's R189 425 $\times i12$ ). Our R2 000 pays for that interest, and reduces the capital amount owed by R2 000 - R1 420,69 = R579,31. This reduces the amount outstanding to R188 845,69.

Doing the same calculations as before yields a new loan schedule shown in [link] .

The important numbers to notice is the “Capital Component" column. Note that when we are paying off R2 000 a month as compared to R1 709,48 a month, this column more than double. In the beginning of paying off a loan, very little of our money is used to pay off the capital outstanding. Therefore, even a small increase in repayment amounts can significantly increase the speed at which we are paying off the capital.

What's more, look at the amount we are still owing after one year (i.e. at time 12). When we were paying R1 709,48 a month, we still owe R186 441,84. However, if we increase the repayments to R2 000 a month, the amount outstanding decreases by over R3 000 to R182 808,14. This means we would have paid off over R7 000 in our first year instead of less than R4 000. This increased speed at which we are paying off the capital portion of the loan is what allows us to pay off the whole loan in around 14 years instead of the original 20. Note however, the effect of paying R2 000 instead of R1 709,48 is more significant in the beginning of the loan than near the end of the loan.

It is noted that in this instance, by paying slightly more than what the bank would ask you to pay, you can pay off a loan a lot quicker. The natural question to ask here is: why are banks asking us to pay the lower amount for much longer then? Are they trying to cheat us out of our money?

There is no simple answer to this. Banks provide a service to us in return for a fee, so they are out to make a profit. However, they need to be careful not to cheat their customers for fear that they'll simply use another bank. The central issue here is one of scale. For us, the changes involved appear big. We are paying off our loan 6 years earlier by paying just a bit more a month. To a bank, however, it doesn't matter much either way. In all likelihood, it doesn't affect their profit margins one bit!