Money Skills Studio - Educational Tool

Is Your Offset Pulling Its Weight?

See what your offset should be saving you, then check if your bank is actually delivering it.

Educational only - not financial or credit advice. See disclaimer below.

Nothing you enter is saved or sent. All calculations happen on your device.

How an offset account actually works

An offset account is a transaction account linked to your home loan. Each day, the balance sitting in it is subtracted from your loan balance before the bank calculates interest for that day.

$500,000 loan, $20,000 in offset: interest is charged on $480,000 that day. Your repayment stays the same, but more of it goes to principal. The loan gets paid off faster.

The complication: interest is calculated daily, on the end-of-day balance. If your offset moves up and down through the month, your real saving sits somewhere between the lowest and highest balance. That is why we ask about both.

Your numbersRound numbers are fine. Estimates work.

What you currently owe on your home loan
$
Your current variable rate. Check your loan statement or banking app.
%
Pick how you want to enter it. Either is fine. Range gives a sharper picture.
$
We will calculate assuming this balance stayed roughly steady. If your balance moves a lot, the "low and high" mode will be more honest.
Probably right before payday
$
Probably right after payday
$
Heads up: your "lowest" was higher than your "highest". We have treated the smaller number as the low and the larger as the high.
Monthly for statement-checking. Annual for the motivating number.
Interest your offset should save
$0
Enter your details above
 

Interest chargedThese are the numbers to compare against your loan statement

Worst case: offset empty all month
Charged on your full $620,000 balance
$0.00
Mid case: offset at the low end all month
Charged on your loan minus the lowest balance
$0.00
Best case: offset at the high end all month
Charged on your loan minus the highest balance
$0.00

Want a real health check? One more number.

The numbers above are what the offset should be doing. To check whether your bank is actually delivering it, enter the interest charged on your most recent statement.

$

What this tells you

Adjust the inputs above to see what your offset is doing.

How many years does this knock off your loan?
Tap to add your repayment and remaining term
▸
Big assumption: this estimate assumes your offset balance stays at roughly today's level for the remaining life of the loan. In reality, most people either grow their offset over time or let it drain during expensive years. Use this as an order-of-magnitude figure, not a projection.
Roughly off your loan term
-
enter your numbers above

Estimate only. Assumes your repayment, rate, and offset balance all stay roughly constant for the remaining term. They will not. Treat the figure as an order of magnitude.

Three questions this tool did not answer

They are the ones that actually move your financial life forward.

The offset is one lever on your mortgage. The bigger questions sit around it:

  • Opportunity cost. Should cash sit in offset, or go to super, extra repayments, or investments? The answer depends on your tax bracket, timeline, and risk tolerance.
  • Your rate. Your rate is the biggest lever. Even a small reduction has a bigger impact than most offset strategies. Have you reviewed yours lately?
  • Loan structure. Split loans, redraw versus offset, fixed versus variable, package fees. The wrong structure can quietly undo everything the offset does.
Book a Free Discovery Call
No pitch. A conversation about where you are at.

Educational only. This tool provides general information. It is not personal financial advice, credit advice, a product recommendation, or a projection you should rely on for financial decisions.

How the maths works: interest is calculated as balance x annual rate / 365 x days. In "today's balance" mode, we assume your offset stays at the entered amount for the full period. In "low and high" mode, the figures assume the offset stayed at the low or high point respectively for the whole period. Your real result sits between them.

What it does not model: repayments made during the period, rate changes, fees or package costs, partial-offset products, interest-only loans, redraw, or the effect of rate movements over time.

Before changing anything about your loan structure, offset arrangement, or repayment strategy, speak to a licensed mortgage broker or financial adviser.

Money Skills Studio does not hold an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) or an Australian Credit Licence. This tool is general information only.