An equated monthly installment (EMI) is the fixed monthly payment made by a borrower to the lender each
calendar month. The amount of the EMI depends
upon the loan amount, interest rate charged for the loan and the duration in which the loan is to be repaid.
The EMI is made up of two parts, the
principal amount and the interest on the principal amount divided across each month in the loan tenure. The
EMI is always paid up to the lender on a
fixed date each month until the loan is paid off in full at the end of the tenure. The benefit of an EMI for
borrowers is that they know precisely how
much money they will need to pay toward their loan each month, making the personal budgeting process easier.
Amortization Tables and Why They Are Useful
Now, you might assume that the EMI is applied in equal parts towards the principal and the interest every
month, however this not the case. During the
initial years the interest component repaid is higher and during the latter years of repayment the principal
component is higher. While a portion of
every payment is applied towards both the interest and the principal balance of the loan, the exact amount
applied to principal each time varies (with
the remainder going to interest).
An amortization schedule reveals the amount applied towards interest, as well as the amount paid towards the
principal balance, with each payment.
Initially, a large portion of each payment is devoted to interest. As the loan matures, larger portions go
towards paying down the principal. In
addition to breaking down each payment into interest and principal portions, an amortization schedule also
reveals the remaining principal balance on
each payment date.
EMI is an oft repeated term that is associated with any loan taken. Let us understand how EMI works and what
are
the different aspects associated
with EMI. The EMI facility helps the borrower plan his budget. The EMI is calculated taking into account the
loan amount, the time frame for
repaying the loan and the interest rate on the borrowed sum.
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Sameer Tiwari, a Pune based mechanical engineer, thought he had made a "prudent decision" by opting for a
fixed
rate EMI when he took his
home loan five years ago from a reputed national bank. Three years after the
date
of disbursement, Sameer received a
letter, which said it was time for renewal of his loan and that the interest on his fixed home loan had been increased
by 0.5 per cent. Though this did not mean a change in the actual EMI he paid, this would however reflect
first
on his loan tenure, which would be
increased to accommodate the interest change. On checking with the bank, he learned that there was a clause
in
the agreement that said the fixed
rate was only for a period of three years and not for the entire loan tenure!
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The term 'rest' comes into the picture only for reducing balance loans. In a
reducing balance loan with each EMI paid,
the outstanding loan amount is recalculated. A 'rest' is the period in which the bank recalculates the loan
amount outstanding based upon the amount
of loan paid back through Equated monthly installments, i.e. EMIs. Note that this is also the periodicity of
compounding.
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Banks have something called the benchmark prime lending rate, which is a reference interest rate that is
used as a benchmark to determine the interest rate that is passed on to the customer. This will accordingly
reflect in the EMI the borrower has to
shell out to repay his loan. The interest rate that is finally passed on to the customer is X% plus or minus
this benchmark prime lending rate and
will correspondingly increase or decrease his EMI or loan tenure, at the time of applying for his loan.
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I had taken a home loan of Rs 9 lakh from ICICI bank in November 2004, at a 7
per
cent floating interest rate for 20
years. Since then, interest rates have gone up considerably. Now, my Equated Monthly Installment (EMI) has
also
increased and I have a remaining
tenure of 23 years. I am planning to shift my loan to State Bank of India (SBI). They have offered almost
the
same EMI and for a
15 year tenure. Should I shift? -- Tanmay Shastri
When interest rates increase, either loan tenure or EMI (or both in some cases) go up. See if another lender
offers you a considerably lower EMI or
tenure, with other aspects being more or less constant. If yes, then you stand to gain with a switch.
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