Most Americans have a car or want a car. The question is, “How will you be paying?”. Paying off a car loan should not be a difficult task. It starts with the type of car loan you choose when buying a car.
Not everyone can afford to buy a car with cash. The rest of us have to get financing, either through a financial entity like a bank or through the dealership we buy the car from.
Picking a Car Loan
Either of these options can be good for the buyer, but as is always the case with debt of any kind, it’s important to be able to pay it back as fast as possible. The folks at J.D. Byrider might give you an auto loan with excellent terms, but this is not true of every car dealer.
This is where the interest and fees come into play. Together, these two factors are the Annual Percentage Rate, or APR. That’s the percentage of your remaining loan balance that you’ll pay each year in addition to your premium payments.
Paying Off a Car Loan
Some people think that when considering a loan, the monthly payment is the only number worth considering (i.e. “If I can afford $450 per month, I can afford this loan.”) However, the interest rate is more important, because it indicates exactly how much the loan costs. It’s the amount of money over and above the basic loan amount which you also have to pay back.