Bonds are often something which can lead to a lot of confusion for many people. This is due to the fact that the process of figuring out how the monthly payment is calculated can be somewhat confusing. In reality the formula is relatively basic math but unfortunately many people simply don?t know the formula and therefore do not understand what is involved in the process.
Without a doubt, the factor which plays the largest role in what the monthly payments will be on a bond is the amount of the bond. If you take out a large bond you can expect to have relatively high monthly payments while a smaller bond can lead to lower monthly payments. The term length of the bond is also a major factor which affects the monthly payments on the bond. Bond?s are readily available for 10, 15 and even 20 years. In some rare cases a 30 year bond may also be available. Obviously, with longer bond terms you receive lower monthly payments because you are spreading the loan out over a greater period of time. The down side to longer loan terms is that it leads to paying out more money in the end than a shorter loan term. This is because you are paying interest over a greater period of time.
Another factor which directly affects the monthly payment on a bond is the interest rate itself. This interest interest rate is calculated by taking into account factors such as your credit score, work history, current employment status, income, and even age. The more favorable these figures are the better your interest rate will be. Higher interest rates not only mean higher monthly payments but they also mean that you will have paid more at the completion of the loan by a significant margin. In fact, a 1% increase in the interest rate can lead to thousands of extra dollars in expenses over the course of the loan.
Now that all this information is available you need to figure out how much interest you will be paying out per month. The interest rate which is given on the bond is actually what is known as an APR or annual percentage rate. The figure which is used in calculating monthly payments is actually a monthly interest rate which is calculated by simply dividing your APR by 12. A simple example would be that if you had a 10% interest rate you would divide .10 by 12. This would result in a monthly interest rate of .0083 or .83%. The next factor which is considered is the number of months you are actually paying on the bond. If you received a bond for 15 years then you would multiply 15 by 12 to get’0. This is the number of months you are paying on the bond. Now that you have this information you can perform the actual calculations to determine your monthly payment. The formula is not very complex at all. The actual formula is M = ((((I + 1) ^ T) * I) * L) / (((I + 1) ^ T) – 1). This may seem complex but it is really not very difficult at all. M stands for the actual monthly payment. The letter I represents the monthly interest rate. T is the term that the bond will be held for in months. L is the total bond amount. So figuring on this basic formula using our basic figures the formula would look like this: M = ((((.0083 + 1) ^’0) * .0083) * 100,000) / (((.0083 + 1) ^’0) – 1). This when calculated equals 1072.16 per month.
Once they have this information the banks use a simple mathematical formula to determine the actual monthly payback you will have on the bond. This formula is far easier than many people believe and will quickly give you your payback. There are also many online bond calculators available freely which will allow you to easily take figures and determine what kind of monthly bond rate you will have. There are also some reverse calculators which allow you to input how much you can afford per month and they will output how much of a bond you can really afford.
Susan Reynolds is a content coordinator for a leading South African bond originator. For more information visit: http://www.bondcredit.co.za/
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