Are offset accounts a good idea?

Offset accounts can be used in a positive way to reduce the amount of interest you pay on your home loan. Basically, the more money you have sitting in your offset account the more you can save over the life of your loan as your only paying interest of the difference between your home loan balance and the amount sitting in your offset.

For example, if you have $400,000 home loan with $50,000 sitting in your offset, then your only paying interest on the difference which in this case is $350,000.

Offset accounts are linked to variable home loans, not fixed and there can be additional charges depending on lender to have them.