TR-HNR-December-2019

STRATEGY

COMPOUND INTEREST

Evaluating the Numbers NULLIFYING EINSTEIN’S 8TH WONDER OF THE WORLD: COMPOUND INTEREST.

money, rather than letting your tenant pay the mort- gage and provide you with tax and inflationary benefits. Keep what is yours and pay the leverage with less over time using OPM.  Separately, an investor would look at each of these items as a negative. Paying compound interest is definitely negative. Declining value of the dollar they hold due to inflation, also very negative. Couple them together and you have that rare case where we can use two negatives to create a compounding positive. • DISCLAIMER: SecurityNational Mortgage Company, and its loan officers, unless individually licensed and specifically denoted in their credentials, are not qual- ified to, and are prohibited from representing them- selves as accountants, attorneys, certified financial planners, estate planners, investment specialists or tax experts, and will not advise you in those matters. Always seek the advice of a licensed professional. This article is for informational purposes only, contains the opinion of the author, not necessarily the opinion of SecurityNational Mortgage Company, and should not be construed as lending advice. Loans are subject to borrower qualifications, including income, property evaluation, sufficient equity in the home to meet LTV requirements, and final credit approval. Approvals are subject to underwriting guidelines, interest rates, and program guidelines, and are subject to change with- out notice based on applicant’s eligibility and market conditions. Refinancing an existing loan may result in total finance charges being higher over life of loan. Reduction in payments may reflect longer loan term. Terms of the loan may be subject to payment of points and fees by the applicant. Equal Housing Lender. Se- curityNational Mortgage Company Inc. NMLS# 3116. Any amounts, figures, payments or loan terms stated are based on continually changing markets, rates, loan programs and borrower specific qualifications, and subject to change without notice. See loan officers fea- tured for a personal consultation and accurate pricing. The above information is the sole intellectual prop- erty of the author. Any distribution without written consent of the owner is strictly prohibited ©.

by Aaron Chapman, Security National Mortgage

I

n the past few editions we touched on the mindset of the leveraged real estate investor and a method of evaluating an investment in two parts. Now, we land on what in my opinion is the ability to use economic cir- cumstance to nullify the effects of what Einstein called the  “8th Wonder of the World” — compound interest. Compound interest is basically calculating interest on the outstanding principal amount plus whatever interest has already accrued. Conventional wisdom says that you should pay down principal as fast as possible to reduce the effects of compound interest.  Because people are taught from a very early age to shy away from debt, purchasing real estate with financ- ing can lead you to feel as though you are digging your- self deeper into debt. I disagree with the belief of

8th Wonder. I say ride that sucker out to the last day if you can. The dollar’s buying power diminishes every year by the inflating cost of living. I feel very confident using a conservative inflation factor of five percent to see what the dollar would do for the next 30 years while the investor is using the rental income to satisfy the loan. To recall, on the date of closing the investor borrowed $83,960.00, resulting in a payment (principal and inter- est) of $437.98. Over the life of the loan, the dollar’s value diminishes as the cost of living increases. Working with my friends in the accounting department of Kennesaw State University we put an algorithm to work that shows the individual value of each dollar as of the date it was used to make a loan payment compared to the value of the dollar from the date it was borrowed (inflation-adjusted dollars). Totaling the value over estate investor in this example borrowed $83,960.00, paid inter- est of 4.75 percent over 30 years totaling $157,671.01. With the value of the instrument they are repaying the financing, but they are really giving back $81,586.71 based on the full value of the dollar the day it was initially borrowed. That is, the investor locks in a payment of $437.98 at loan origination. How- ever, over the life of the loan period, accounting for inflation, that $437.98 continues to decline month after month until it becomes worth only $98.03 in the final year’s dollar purchasing power.  Why would we ever want to pay it back any faster if there is no need to accelerate the re-payment! I encourage the investor not to. Paying more than the absolute minimum means you're paying with your thirty years the $157,671.01 paid is actually equal to $81,586.71 when accounting for the decrease in buying power of the dollar from the date the loan was issued. Could this be accurate? The real

the properly leveraged investment as debt. Even the commonly quoted idea of “good debt vs. bad debt” is not something I subscribe to. In this case, I believe “debt” is the entirely wrong word. Properly leveraged, in the right environment, the financing be- comes the greatest asset. We live in an inflationary environment. News outlets report government statistical data, indicating a tame two percent inflation rate accord- ing to the CPI (consumer price index). However, according to www.

shadowstats.com/alternate_data/infla- tion-charts, we see that by adding back in everyday expenses that are not accounted for in the CPI, the actual inflation we all experience can be three times that of the “official” numbers. Take the time to understand the inflation numbers. Understanding brings clarity on how compound in- terest does not harm the patient investor. Compound interest says the investor referenced in the October and November articles will pay $73,711.04 in interest over 30 years with a total repayment of $157,671.01 (loan plus interest). Many want to pay off the loan as quickly as they can to avoid becoming a “victim” of this

Aaron Chapman has been in the finance industry since 1997. His clientele ranges from first-time home buyers to those investing in multiple properties for long-term cashflow. He is presently ranked #14 in an industry of more than 300,000 licensed loan originators.

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