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Taking out loan to Save

Adam173
Adam173 Posts: 17 Forumite
10 Posts
OK...bare with me here!

Generally im very risk averse and dont do finance etc however with interest rates at a decent level and personal loans still relatively cheap i had a bit of a mad thought. 

Currently i can get a £20000 personal loan at 6.1% APR, this works out to a monthly payment of £386.06 and a total amount payable of £23,163.00 over 60 months 

If i put that £20000 into a high interest ISA at around 4.9% i could get a return of £25,540 over the same 5 year period 'netting me' £2,377 over that time. 

Now im not saying i will do it, and of course interest rates on savings will likely decrease over that time but am i missing something or are my maths a bit squiffy at why this isnt a good idea on the proviso that i am restrained enough to ensure i dont spend the £20000?
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Comments

  • How can the ISA pay more when the interest rate is lower than the loan's interest rate?
  • Adam173
    Adam173 Posts: 17 Forumite
    10 Posts
    edited 5 February 2024 pm29 2:22PM
    How can the ISA pay more when the interest rate is lower than the loan's interest rate?
    Well thats what im confused about hence why i asked! I've used the MSE savings calculator here Savings Calculator - MoneySavingExpert - Calculate Interest On a £20000 initial investment it earns £1000 interest per year basically, so over 5 years compounded its circa £5500 interest. 

    Used a loan calculator here Personal Loan Calculator (tescobank.com) and it works out at circa £23000 over the same 5 years even though its 6.1% APR meaning the interest paid is circa £3000 

    Is this just a case of compounding interest on savings being more powerful than simple interest on a loan despite the loan being a higher interest rate?
  • You're not factoring in the repayments.  Effectively, you'll be withdrawing funds from the savings to repay the loan. 

    Cheaper and easier to just set fire to a pile of bank notes.

  • Adam173
    Adam173 Posts: 17 Forumite
    10 Posts
    edited 5 February 2024 pm29 2:37PM
    You're not factoring in the repayments.  Effectively, you'll be withdrawing funds from the savings to repay the loan. 

    Cheaper and easier to just set fire to a pile of bank notes.

    repayments aren't an issue i can afford to keep the £20000 locked away in high interest savings earning money and pay the monthly repayment out of my normal income.

    technically if i started from zero and saved that £386 a month for 5 years id be at £26,200 with the same interest rate so more than the £25,540 by £660 however i wouldnt get as good a rate drip feeding money in so in reality would need to ensure the interest rate stayed about 3.8% to make it work that way. 

    Anyway, just musing and working out the maths etc. 
  • If you forget about getting the card  and just put the monies into savings your return will be 100% profit with no monthly repayments to be made.
    That's a no brainer to me.
  • Adam173 said:

    Currently i can get a £20000 personal loan at 6.1% APR, this works out to a monthly payment of £386.06 and a total amount payable of £23,163.00 over 60 months 

    If i put that £20000 into a high interest ISA at around 4.9% i could get a return of £25,540 over the same 5 year period 'netting me' £2,377 over that time. 

    If this is 6.1% annual rate and the ISA is paying 4.9% annual rate then aren't you worse off? Plus can you guarantee you will be getting 4.9% per year over the next 5 years, as savings rates can go up or down unless its fixed for that length of time.
  • Adam173 said:
    You're not factoring in the repayments.  Effectively, you'll be withdrawing funds from the savings to repay the loan. 

    Cheaper and easier to just set fire to a pile of bank notes.

    repayments aren't an issue i can afford to keep the £20000 locked away in high interest savings earning money and pay the monthly repayment out of my normal income.


    That's money that you should be putting into savings, instead of paying off a high interest loan, which is where the loss making aspect comes from.

    Just save your own funds and make a profit, rather than turning a loss for no reason.
  • Adam173 said:

    Currently i can get a £20000 personal loan at 6.1% APR, this works out to a monthly payment of £386.06 and a total amount payable of £23,163.00 over 60 months 

    If i put that £20000 into a high interest ISA at around 4.9% i could get a return of £25,540 over the same 5 year period 'netting me' £2,377 over that time. 

    If this is 6.1% annual rate and the ISA is paying 4.9% annual rate then aren't you worse off? Plus can you guarantee you will be getting 4.9% per year over the next 5 years, as savings rates can go up or down unless its fixed for that length of time.
    yes 

    i explained that above.....im just talking hypothetically of course just comparing the 2 calculators...lots of ifs and buts
  • Nasqueron
    Nasqueron Posts: 10,163 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    If you could afford the repayments, why not open a regular saver like the Nationwide one that is (was?) paying 8% on £200 a month or NatWest doing 6.17% on £150 a month and you'd earn pure profit rather than losing money to interest

    Sam Vimes' Boots Theory of Socioeconomic Unfairness: 

    People are rich because they spend less money. A poor man buys $10 boots that last a season or two before he's walking in wet shoes and has to buy another pair. A rich man buys $50 boots that are made better and give him 10 years of dry feet. The poor man has spent $100 over those 10 years and still has wet feet.

  • Nasqueron said:
    If you could afford the repayments, why not open a regular saver like the Nationwide one that is (was?) paying 8% on £200 a month or NatWest doing 6.17% on £150 a month and you'd earn pure profit rather than losing money to interest
    again, just talking hypothetically above trying to work out why on the 2 calculators worked out positively for taking out the loan
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