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The most important feature to check when taking out a personal loan

Published on November 26th, 2020
  Written by 
Bill Tsouvalas
Bill Tsouvalas is the managing director and a key company spokesperson at Savvy. As a personal finance expert, he often shares his insights on a range of topics, being featured on leading news outlets including News Corp publications such as the Daily Telegraph and Herald Sun, Fairfax Media publications such as the Australian Financial Review, the Seven Network and more. Bill has over 15 years of experience working in the finance industry and founded Savvy in 2010 with a vision to provide affordable and accessible finance options to all Australians. He has built Savvy from a small asset finance brokerage into a financial comparison website which now attracts close to 2 million Aussies per year and was included in the BRW’s Fast 100 in 2015 as one of the fastest-growing companies in the country. He’s passionate about helping Australians make financially savvy decisions and reviews content across the brand to ensure its accuracy. You can follow Bill on LinkedIn.
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Your personal loans monthly repayments are one of the most important features that you need to check. It will be the difference between finding something that is affordable and easy to maintain, or a constant stretch that can put you at risk of defaulting on your payments. These are three things that you need to know about when it comes to meeting your monthly repayments.

Cash borrowed

The beauty of taking out a personal loan is that it can be used to fund both minor and massive projects. Whether you need a loan to pay for a small course, do minor renovations or finance a wedding a personal loan can get you covered. Personal loan amounts usually range from $4000 to $50,000. This means that the power is in your hands in terms of how much you can take out. It is important to take out what you can afford according to your current financial status to avoid debt.

Most lenders will usually check to see your credit history to see if you will be able to afford the personal loan you are applying for before giving it to you. You need to think of the long-term when it comes to borrowing money, which means also checking if you will be able to afford the interest on the amount borrowed.

Interest rate

When it comes to the interest rate front some Australians fail on consistently checking it. An interest rate plays a huge role when it comes to meeting your monthly repayments. Before you apply for a personal loan you must check its interest rate to find the best competitive deal that is on the market.

The loan market is flooded with 0% interest rate deals that sound too good to be true, but once you check the terms and conditions that come with it you could be in for a costly surprise. 0% interest personal loans are not a ‘no go area’ if you manage meeting repayments on time before the introductory period is over. However, if you know that paying off your loan will take you some time, then its best to stay clear of 0% interest rate personal loans.

Administration fees

The fees that you pay for administration fees are a good indicator in terms of whether you will be able to afford the loan or not. The higher the administrative fees are, the more you can expect to pay when it comes to your monthly repayments. These fees can also be a mark on whether you will be able to save a couple of hundreds which you could use elsewhere.

personal loan can be the best financial boost that you need to help you achieve your goals. However, when comparing any loan, you always need to check its monthly repayments. There are plenty of personal loan calculators which is a useful tool that can give you a clearer picture of how much you can expect to pay in overall costs before taking on a loan.

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This guide provides general information and does not consider your individual needs, finances or objectives. We do not make any recommendation or suggestion about which product is best for you based on your specific situation and we do not compare all companies in the market, or all products offered by all companies. It’s always important to consider whether professional financial, legal or taxation advice is appropriate for you before choosing or purchasing a financial product.

The content on our website is produced by experts in the field of finance and reviewed as part of our editorial guidelines. We endeavour to keep all information across our site updated with accurate information.

Approval for personal loans is always subject to our lender’s terms, conditions and qualification criteria. Lenders will undertake a credit check in line with responsible lending obligations to help determine whether you’re in a position to take on the loan you’re applying for.

The interest rate, comparison rate, fees and monthly repayments will depend on factors specific to your profile, such as your financial situation, as well as others, such as the loan’s size and your chosen repayment term. Costs such as broker fees, redraw fees or early repayment fees, and cost savings such as fee waivers, aren’t included in the comparison rate but may influence the cost of the loan. Different terms, fees or other loan amounts may result in a different comparison rate.

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