In 1984, the Tax Reform Act set provisions for applicable federal rates (AFRs). This is a minimum tax rate that must be charged on all loans, including personal loans. The IRS provides various prescribed rates for federal income tax purposes each month and TimeValue Software offers them on our website at Applicable Federal Rates | TimeValue Software.

The magic of compounding can work to your advantage when it comes to your investments and can be a potent factor in wealth creation. While simple and compound interest are basic financial concepts, becoming thoroughly familiar with them will help you make better decisions when taking out a loan or making an investment, which may save you thousands of dollars over the long term.  When investing, compounding is critical. You'll start earning interest on your initial deposit and you'll earn interest on the interest you just earned.

In reviewing the 2017 Berkshire Performance summary, you would be amazed at the impact that compounding has over a number of years. In their report, they show three return calculations: the Berkshire per share “book value” which was a 19.1% compounded annual return, the Berkshire per share “market value” which was a 20.9% compounded annual return, and the S&P 500 compounded annual return of 9.9%. These were from August 31, 1964 to December 31, 2017.

A customer recently asked how to use TValue to determine the balance and annual interest contributions if they invested $100,000 in an annuity that was compounded annually for 15 years.

We often get customers asking us “should I do my loan with compound interest or simple interest?”. The answer is borrowers benefit from simple interest and lenders could benefit from compound interest. Often, the financial institutions do not give you a choice.