The offset account concept is used to link a mortgage with the home owner’s savings. These accounts do not earn interest, but the bank deducts the savings balance from the home loan amount before calculating the daily interest. Obviously the loan gets repaid faster and the net interest paid will be lower. But there are additional tax advantages as also the benefit of being able to withdraw cash anytime without having to pay any fees.
The key to the whole offset business is the fact that banks pay a smaller interest rate on savings while they charge a higher rate for loans. Assume a home owner has a pending $100,000 home loan at 8% and $20,000 as savings accruing interest at 4%. By linking both, the daily mortgage interest is calculated on $80,000.
As a result, the home owner saves an interest amount equivalent to 8% of 20,000, instead of getting 4% interest as earnings. Of course, that’s just the simple math. The reality is that the normal 4% interest accrued in a savings a/c is considered income, and taxed as such.
For those who fall into the higher tax brackets, the difference is considerable and a healthy slice of the earnings end up with the tax man. But when the same money is saved as part of reduced interest paid on a home loan, it is not taxable. The customer ends up keeping the full 8%. If managed properly, an offset account can easily save 5-6% when compared to regular accounts.
As a bonus, the money is not actually locked up or paid off into the mortgage. It’s still there in the savings a/c and can be withdrawn, used and paid back in as required. There is no paperwork or delay, and no transaction fees charged when drawing the money. When it is put back in, the funds are again used to reduce the loan amount.
This can be pretty useful when an investor needs funds to buy and sell assets quickly for a profit, or when the funds are needed to purchase raw material to fulfill an order. This may sound vaguely familiar to business owners, and it is indeed possible to link both current and savings accounts to a mortgage. As a matter of fact, this concept came into existence for use with current accounts.
Current account mortgages (CAMs) were used to pool a customer’s debts, loans and deposits. Every day, the bank would tote up the mortgage balance, card debt, personal loans and any other debt a customer may have with them. The customer’s offset account balance is then deducted from the total debt, and a single interest rate is applied on the net debt. It simplifies banking and personal finance, and also reduces the net interest payable over the long run.