What does Amortisation Mean?

On most occasions, you may not have enough funds to finance some of the activities that might be urgent in life. Getting a loan is one of the options that will strike your mind so that you will be able to achieve your dream. When paying back the loan, something called amortisation will be applied to it- but what is amortisation? Let us dive in and dissect. 

Definition, and Examples of Amortisation

Amortisation is the process of repaying a loan by paying equal amounts at a given regular interval. The interval of payment may be after every few months or years, depending on the terms and conditions of the loan agreement.  

Many borrowers prefer to amortise their loans on a monthly basis since they usually depend on the monthly salaries as a means of facilitating the payment. Nevertheless, in cases where the borrower is a business organisation, a three or six-month basis of amortisation is preferred because business organisations normally take more time to create enough income needed to amortise a loan. 

The periodical payments made usually consist of a portion of the principal, the associated interest fee, and any other related costs of the loan repayment plan. For example, a loan of US $ 1 million and interest charge at 12% per year may be repaid over 10 equal periods – this means that each period a principal amount of $100,000 plus its due interest is paid. The 10th payment will automatically clear the loan repayment.

How Does Amortisation Work?

The working of amortisation can easily be explained using an amortisation schedule which usually is a table showing how payment of a loan is distributed over the payment periods. All amortisation tables consist of this information:

• Scheduled payments. The amount you will be paying each month until the loan is fully paid.
• Principal payment. After you deduct the interest charges on loan, the remainder of your payment goes toward debt repayment.
• Interest expenses. A portion of every scheduled payment goes to interest expenses. To get the amount, your remaining loan balance is multiplied by the interest rate applied per month. 

Despite the fact that your total payment is the same each time, you will be making monthly payments of the loan’s interest and principal in varying amounts. Interest charges are highest at the start of the loan. As time passes, an increasing percentage of each payment is applied to your principal, resulting in monthly interest payments that are decreasing proportionally.

An Example of Amortisation

Table 1.1 is an amortisation schedule/table which demonstrates well what loan amortisation is.  Kindly note that the definition of an amortisation schedule and amortisation table mean one and the same thing – a document that shows the amount you should pay monthly on your loan.

The total periodical payment is normally determined by discounting the loan amount at the given rate of interest, and this amount is usually the same across periods. However, the total periodical payment consists of different portions of principal and interest charges. 

In this example, the amortised loan (which means or can be defined as a loan that scheduled and periodic payments have been applied to the principal and interest accrued) is $12,000, and interest charged is 2% per annum for a period of 4 years. The fixed payment is $3000.

Table 1.1 Loan Amortisation Schedule

End of period	Beg. Of year principal	Periodical Interest at2 % p.a Paid	Periodical Principal paid	Periodical total Loan payment	End of the period remaining principal
1	12,000	240	3000	3240	9000
2	9,000	180	3000	3180	6000
3	6,000	120	3000	3120	3000
4	3,000	60	3000	3060	0.00

Types of Amortising Loans

When you apply for a loan, it is important to understand what type of loan is and how it is amortised. The amortisation will help you make proper arrangements for how you will repay without defaulting. Below are some types of loans that are amortised.

1. Auto Loans

An auto loan is a loan taken with the intention of buying a motor vehicle. It is a form of instalment loan with fixed monthly payments spaced out over a period of five years or less.

The borrower often signs an agreement to pay the loan’s principal plus interest until the full payment of the loan amount. The value of the vehicle being purchased serves as collateral for the loans, and the borrower does not fully own the vehicle until the remaining loan balance is repaid in full.

There are two categories of auto loans

a) Direct auto loan 

Here, the borrower gets money from the lender directly with the intention of buying a car from a dealer. In this instance, the borrower is expected to pay the lender on a regular basis in accordance with the terms set forth.

b) Indirect auto loan

This is a financial arrangement that occurs when a car dealership offers a vehicle to the borrower on credit terms. A contract for an instalment sale is made between the dealer and the buyer, and the dealer then sells that contract to a financial institution. The borrower will then repay the loan in the same way that a direct loan would be repaid.

2. Home Loans

Home loans are loans advanced to a borrower to assist in purchasing a house. These fixed-rate mortgages come with longer maturity of around 15 to 30 years.

Borrowers can determine how long it will take to pay off the principal and interest on a house loan and then convert that figure to a monthly payment. Following that, the borrower will make a series of regular monthly payments for the duration of the mortgage.

Many homeowners do not keep their mortgage for the full 15 to 30 years, but instead, they sell the house or refinance the loan to cover the remaining sum. Most borrowers favour fixed-rate mortgages because they can anticipate the structure of their future periodic payments, regardless of changes in interest rates.

3. Personal Loans

These are loans that individual borrowers take from financial institutions like banks and credit unions. The period for paying back the principal and interest for these loans is between two to five years.

Borrowers use these loans for their personal needs including vacations, paying school fees, or for other projects. The amount the borrower applies may determine if it will require collateral or not.

Credit and Loans That Aren’t Amortised

Non-amortization of credits and loans means that the specifics have no particular schedule for repaying. So, the borrower pays the principal by lump sum. 

Non-amortizing loans are employed when borrowers have little access to available collateral. It could be for a credit card loan, a home equity line of credit, other credit lines, land contracts, or finance for real estate.

1. Interest-only loans

In this case, the borrower only pays the interest over a predetermined period, and the principal is paid in full at a predetermined date. This is one traditional method of repaying student loans, while most borrowers choose to make combined principal and interest payments as opposed to paying them off completely at once.

Interest-only payments are made for a limited time only. This phase typically lasts five to ten years in non-amortizing business loan situations. When choosing this kind of loan, business owners should be careful to set aside money and plan for the main repayment during that time.

2. Balloon loan

Balloon loan is a non-amortized loan that requires the borrower to make a sizable principal payment at the loan’s culmination. The borrower makes little instalments at the beginning of the loan, but eventually, the total amount becomes due. Unless you have a sizable quantity of cash on hand, you’ll most likely refinance the balloon payment.

3. Credit cards/Revolving debt

This type allows you to borrow multiple times on the same credit card. So long as you meet the minimum borrowing requirements, you decide how much you will pay each month until you fully repay the loan.

4. Deferred interest loan

This is a type of loan with interest payments that are postponed for a while. As long as the loan is repaid in full before the end of the month, there won’t be any interest charged.

Deferred-interest loans may be familiar to many borrowers because they are frequently provided by retail establishments financing their goods or credit cards in an effort to attract new borrowers.

Benefits of Amortisation

For those that understand what an amortisation of a loan is, these advantages apply when they take advantage of it.

1. A borrower can easily evaluate the options of loans available

Amortisation schedules make it simpler for people to compare different loan options since they may show them how much each loan will cost as well as the total interest that has accrued. They can learn which interest rates on a loan and terms offer them the best payment module.

For instance, if you have two options of loans, say, 5-year and 10-year, with the same interest but different payment schedules spread, you can use the amortisation schedule to understand the difference in the interest you would pay. Hence, you can choose the loan with a schedule that favours you. 

2. It provides an opportunity to build equity

The amortisation schedule may enable people to accumulate equity depending on the sort of amortisation loan they take out. A person can more effectively create equity if they purchase a home with a mortgage that has an amortisation schedule since they can pay the principal and interest of the loan at the same time. As a result, they may be able to leverage the value of their house more rapidly for things like cash-out refinancing or home equity loans.

3. You can adjust the payment timelines

You can use an amortisation schedule to change your payment timeline based on how much you pay toward your loan each month. For example, if a monthly loan payment is $500, adding an extra $100 to the payment may assist you to reduce your loan’s outstanding balance faster because the interest for the period has already been paid. This allows you to pay off the debt sooner and change the repayment schedule, thereby saving you money.

General 

Evading loans is one thing that you may not avoid. However, of importance is where and how you will use the loan. Therefore, knowing what amortisation is and how it works, will help you plan the payment, and utilise the amortised loan in a manner that will take you a notch higher than you are.