The Noel Whittaker $12 rule is a simple but effective strategy to achieve financial success. The purpose of the rule is to pay off your home, pay minimal interest, and focus on investments. Noel believes that becoming wealthy is like a game of Monopoly. And the person who owns the most assets will win. Learn how the Noel Whittaker $12 rule can help you pay your bills and build wealth.
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The Noel Whittaker $12 Rule
Noel Whittaker is an Australian finance legend and he created the $12 Rule. He has written over 20 books, sold millions of copies worldwide, and is a trusted financial expert. He appears across all forms of Australian media and his book, Making Money Made Simple is a classic. It covers all aspects of achieving financial independence. From investing, property, tax and superannuation. It is a complete guide with effective strategies, case studies and actionable insights.
Noel is a smart guy and he comes up with new concepts in finance. He has worked in the industry for years and his expertise shines through. For example, Noel discovered that paying a mortgage weekly or bi-weekly would save thousands in interest. And that it would reduce the term of a 30-year mortgage by over 14 years. This “nonsense” claim is now common knowledge and used by many across the globe.
Noel continues to provide financial guidance to millions of people worldwide. One such contribution is his famous $12 rule.
Making Money Made Simple is full of actionable insights and the latest version will be released shotly. It can be used as a financial reference book and it is full of fantastic examples and case studies. If you have read the Barefoot Investor, Noel’s book is the logical next step in your financial education. It’s a Must Read.
What is the Noel Whittaker $12 Rule?
The $12 rule is a strategy to gain financial independence by paying off your home loan within 10 years. This can be achieved by paying $12 for every $1000 of your home loan. For example, if your home loan was $400,000, you would pay $12 for every $1000 owed every month in repayments.
This calculation can vary, depending on interest rates. If the rate was 6%, the loan would be paid off in under 10 years using this formula.
- Mortgage Amount: $400,000
- Interest Rate: 6%
- Monthly Repayment: $2398
- $12 Rule ($12 for every $1000): $12 * 400 = $4800
- Extra repayment: ($4800 – $2398) = $2401.80
The calculation tells you that for your 400k home loan at a 6% interest rate, you will need to pay $4800 a month. This requires an extra $2401.80 in addition to your monthly repayment of $2398.
The $12 rule applied to this $400,00 mortgage will ensure your home loan is paid off within 10 years. This would save you $344,000 in interest payments.
Why the Noel Whittaker $12 Rule Can Help You
The $12 rule is a simple and effective way to manage a home loan. It provides specific numbers and timelines to plan your way out of mortgage debt.
Rather than saying “I have 30 years to pay this off” or “If I pay some extra, I can pay it off sooner”. The $12 rule removes the vagueness of a huge goal like paying off your home loan. It provides a framework to measure and track your progress towards financial independence.
The great thing about the $12 rule is that you can pay off your home faster if you want to. But if you are content with no mortgage within 10 years, you can pay the $4800 every month in this example, and any spare funds can be invested elsewhere. This is a fantastic way to spread your capital and build wealth in the share market for example.
But first thing is first, let’s see how you can calculate the $12 rule to your specific circumstances.
How to Calculate the Noel Whittaker $12 Rule
Let’s keep this super simple. If we say your mortgage is $500,000 and it has been refinanced for 30 years at a new bank at a 6% interest rate. We can calculate the $12 rule on your loan amount by using a loan calculator. In this example, I will use the ING extra loan repayments calculator.
To calculate the $12 Rule amount on a $500,000 mortgage, we can break this down into two parts.
Step 1: Calculate the Minimum Loan Payment Amount
- Enter Details into Calculator: Plug your loan amount, loan period, and interest rate into the Extra Repayments calculator.
- Generate Monthly Repayment: Go to the yearly breakdown Tab and see how much it will cost you for the monthly repayment. In this case, it is $2997.75
Step 2: Calculate The $12 Rule & Extra Repayment Amount
- Calculate $12 Rule Amount: From there, we need to figure out the $12 Rule calculation, which is $12 for every $1000. So that is $12 * 500 (for the $500,000 loan) which equals $6000 in repayments.
- Calculate Extra Repayment Amount: Now we need to calculate the Extra repayment amount. This is the 6% rule number ($6000) minus the monthly repayment ($2997.75). The calculation is $6000-2997.75. This equals $3002.25
- Update Repayments Calculator: If you plug $3002.25 into the repayments calculator, you will see the home loan timeline drop to under 10 years. This means your calculation worked. As you can see in the screengrab above.
It’s amazing, using that data you can achieve your no-mortgage dream. But is the $12 Rule achievable? Let’s find out.
Is the Noel Whittaker $12 Rule Achievable
The $12 rule is achievable but that depends on the interest rate, your savings rate and the size of your mortgage.
The cost of living is astronomical at the moment. Unfortunately, the $12 rule sounds unrealistic for most people. Paying off a $500,000 home in under 10 years sounds amazing. But high inflation and terrible market conditions can impact any plans to achieve such a lofty goal.
That is why we should Define a range of goals linked to the $12 rule.
Breaking Down the $12 Rule Into Three Levels
If the $12 rule isn’t achievable at the moment, creating a range of goals is a good idea. Let’s break the $12 rule into three levels to make it achievable. Let’s start with the Biggest Goal.
- High Level: The $12 rule can be called a stretch goal. Using the $500,000 example, that stretch goal would be $6000 a month in repayments, with $3000 extra every month. This means you would achieve the $12 rule and pay off your loan in under 10 years.
- Medium Level: The next level could be simply cutting that extra $3000 in half, and making it an extra $1500 a month. This can shave off over 16 years and save $347k over the life of your loan. Which is still a huge achievement and worth working towards.
- Lowest Level: The lowest level could be simply paying an extra $1000 a month on a $500,000 home loan. This is still huge as it can shave years off your home loan and save $292k. Or even paying an extra $500 a month will save you almost $200k over the term of your loan. Even $100 can make an impact.
The $12 rule is a tool to use that is dependent on your financial circumstances. If you can’t reach that stretch goal, that is fine. It’s a stretch, and paying anything extra is still a fantastic effort. You can work your way up to that stretch goal amount.
And really, any extra amount is sure to save you a lot of money and will have a huge impact on your mortgage payments. The $12 rule is a framework, that can help you define a range of goals and all you can do is try your best to achieve them.
Peter Thornhill is another Australian finance legend. If you missed it the first time, Read the Peter Thornhill Ultimate Guide to wealth creation which can be used alongside the Noel Whittaker $12 rule.
Final Thoughts
The Noel Whittaker $12 rule is a simple strategy to help mortgage holders achieve financial independence. It’s the perfect strategy to use alongside your budgeting, debt reduction, and investing strategies. The $12 rule is a fantastic way to accelerate wealth creation. And it can help you achieve the great Australian dream of no mortgage.
Please use the ING Repayment calculator alongside the instructions and calculations above. Create your stretch goal using the $12 rule first. Then work back from there to create your three levels of repayment amounts. With a goal in place, maintain your payments and watch the years disappear from your mortgage, and save thousands.
And be sure to read Noel’s books and his weekly newspaper columns. He is a finance legend for a reason, so please look him up and learn from the big man.
I hope you enjoyed learning about the Noel Whittaker $12 Rule. Let me know what you think or if you need any help with any calculations to create the rule for yourself.
M. Moneyman
Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, Mailbox Moneyman will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.
FAQs
What is the Noel Whittaker 12 Rule
The 12 rule is a strategy to gain financial independence by paying off your home loan within 10 years. This can be achieved by paying $12 for every $1000 of your home loan. For example, if your home loan was $500,000, you would pay $12 for every $1000 owed every month in repayments.
What is Noel Whittaker’s Contact
Noel Whittaker can be contacted through a contact form on Noelwhittaker.com. Or you can contact him directly using his email address on noel@noelwhittaker.com.au or you can follow Noel on Twitter/X on https://twitter.com/NoelWhittaker
Who is Noel Whittaker
Noel Whittaker is an Australian finance writer who has written over 20 books, sold millions of copies worldwide, and is a trusted financial expert.
How Old is Noel Whittaker
Noel Whittaker is 84 years old (born in 1940).
References
- Making Money Made Simple: Noel Explains the concept of the $12 Rule in his fantastic book, which is available on Noel Whittaker’s website: https://www.noelwhittaker.com.au/shop/
- Ask Noel Article: This was an Ask Noel SMH article I read on the SMH that referenced the $12 Rule that I read about in Noel’s book. And it made me want to explain the details in depth, including how others can calculate the $12 rule for their own financial situation.
