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Amortization calculator

Your monthly loan payment, the full schedule, and what extra payments do to it.

Schedule

YearInterestPrincipalBalance
1$16,168$2,794$247,206
2$15,981$2,981$244,224
3$15,781$3,181$241,043
4$15,568$3,394$237,649
5$15,341$3,621$234,027
6$15,098$3,864$230,163
7$14,839$4,123$226,041
8$14,563$4,399$221,642
9$14,269$4,694$216,948
10$13,954$5,008$211,940
11$13,619$5,343$206,597
12$13,261$5,701$200,896
13$12,879$6,083$194,813
14$12,472$6,490$188,323
15$12,037$6,925$181,398
16$11,573$7,389$174,009
17$11,078$7,884$166,126
18$10,551$8,412$157,714
19$9,987$8,975$148,739
20$9,386$9,576$139,163
21$8,745$10,217$128,946
22$8,061$10,902$118,044
23$7,330$11,632$106,413
24$6,551$12,411$94,002
25$5,720$13,242$80,760
26$4,833$14,129$66,632
27$3,887$15,075$51,557
28$2,878$16,084$35,473
29$1,800$17,162$18,311
30$651$18,311$0
Monthly payment
$1,580.17
Total interest
$318,861
Total paid
$568,861
$250,000$125,000$0now5y10y15y20y25y30y
Balance owed

Where payment #1 goes

year 1
To interest
$1,354.1786% of the payment
To principal
$226.0014%
Balance after this payment
$249,774

Interest is charged on what you still owe, so early payments are mostly interest. On this loan, principal overtakes interest at payment 233. That is also why extra payments early on save the most.

How amortization works

A fixed-rate loan has one payment for its whole life, calculated so the last payment brings the balance exactly to zero. Each month the lender first takes interest on the balance, then the rest of your payment reduces what you owe. As the balance shrinks, so does the interest, so more of the same payment goes to principal.

That's the reason refinancing late in a loan often backfires: you've already paid most of the interest, and a new loan starts the interest-heavy early years all over again. The refinance calculator accounts for this by comparing what's left on each loan.

Questions people ask

What is an amortization schedule?
A table of every payment on a fixed-rate loan, showing how much goes to interest, how much to principal, and the balance left afterwards. The payment stays the same, but the split shifts from mostly interest to mostly principal over time.
How is a loan payment calculated?
Payment = P × r ÷ (1 − (1 + r)^−n), where P is the amount borrowed, r the monthly rate (annual rate ÷ 12) and n the number of payments. $250,000 at 6.5% over 360 months is $1,580.17 a month.
How much do extra payments save?
Every extra dollar goes straight to principal, so it stops accruing interest for the rest of the loan. Enter an amount in "extra per month" to see the interest saved and how much sooner you finish. Check first that your loan has no prepayment penalty.
Why does so much of my early payment go to interest?
Interest each month is the rate times what you still owe. At the start you owe the most, so interest is largest. Drag the slider in the explainer to watch the split change.