Mortgage and Loan Calculator

How it works

The monthly payment is the fixed amount that pays off the loan, with interest, in exactly the term you chose. It works for any fixed-rate loan with monthly payments: a mortgage, a car loan or a personal loan. The interest rate is charged monthly, a twelfth of the yearly rate each month, on whatever you still owe.

Early on, most of each payment goes to interest, because the balance is at its largest. As the balance falls, more of every payment goes toward the loan itself. Open the year-by-year table under the chart to see the split change. How loan amortization works → walks through a full example, with fixed and variable rates.

Extra payments

Anything you pay on top of the regular payment comes straight off the balance, so the next month's interest is charged on less. Even a small extra amount every month can take years off a mortgage. Check with your lender that extra payments go toward the principal, and whether the loan has any prepayment charges.

What's not included

Property tax and home insurance are added to the monthly total if you enter them, but they don't change the loan. Mortgage insurance (PMI), homeowners association fees, closing costs, and variable or adjustable rates aren't included. Lenders round in slightly different ways, so their figures may differ from these by a few cents or dollars.

Saving instead of borrowing? The compound interest calculator shows how money grows, with the same kind of chart.