Payoff tool
Mortgage Payoff Calculator
Extra principal payments work with brutal efficiency early in a loan, because every dollar you prepay stops accruing interest for the rest of the term. Enter your balance and rate, then try the presets — the scenario table shows the payoff curve at a glance.
Context rate: the Freddie Mac PMMS 30-yr average was 7.03% the week of September 24, 2026. If your rate is below roughly 5%, weigh this tool against what the same dollars earn invested — the higher your rate, the more prepaying earns.
Mortgage payoff calculator
Extra payments go straight to principal — which is why small, consistent amounts cut years off a loan. Simulated month by month, including the smaller final payment.
With $200/mo extra
69 months sooner
payoff in 22 yr 3 mo instead of 28 yr · $89,810 interest saved
Interest saved
$89,810
New payoff time
22 yr 3 mo
Total interest with extras
$285,862
Your last payment is smaller than the rest: $1,921.89 — the sim stops at the exact balance, it doesn't overpay month 293.
What different extra payments do
| Extra per month | Payoff time | Months saved | Interest saved |
|---|---|---|---|
| None (standard) | 28 yr | 0 | $0 |
| $100 | 24 yr 9 mo | 39 | $51,818 |
| $200 | 22 yr 3 mo | 69 | $89,810 |
| $500 | 17 yr 4 mo | 128 | $161,851 |
Year by year: standard vs. extra payments
Remaining balance and cumulative interest at each year end, with and without the $200/mo extra. The gap between the interest columns is money the extra payment never gave the bank.
| Year | Balance — standard | Balance — with extra | Interest saved so far |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $315,832 | $313,359 | $73 |
| 2 | $311,385 | $306,273 | $311 |
| 3 | $306,639 | $298,713 | $726 |
| 4 | $301,577 | $290,647 | $1,330 |
| 5 | $296,175 | $282,040 | $2,135 |
| 6 | $290,411 | $272,857 | $3,154 |
| 7 | $284,261 | $263,058 | $4,403 |
| 8 | $277,699 | $252,604 | $5,895 |
| 9 | $270,698 | $241,449 | $7,649 |
| 10 | $263,228 | $229,548 | $9,681 |
| 11 | $255,258 | $216,849 | $12,009 |
| 12 | $246,754 | $203,300 | $14,654 |
| 13 | $237,680 | $188,843 | $17,637 |
| 14 | $227,999 | $173,418 | $20,981 |
| 15 | $217,670 | $156,961 | $24,709 |
First 15 years shown; the remaining years continue the same math until both balances reach zero.
Every figure here is formula output from cited defaults (rate, deductions, taxes shown in the assumptions). Planning estimate — not tax or financial advice.
Method notes
- Standard schedule uses the closed-form amortization; the extra-payment schedule is simulated month by month with an exact partial final payment.
- Extra principal is applied starting with payment 1; the lump sum reduces the balance today.
- Assumes no prepayment penalty (illegal on most conventional loans since 2014) and no recast — your required payment stays the same; you're just done earlier.
- Rate check: the Freddie Mac PMMS 30-yr average was 7.03% (Sept 24, 2026). Money invested elsewhere may out-earn prepaying a low-rate loan — the honest comparison lives in the rent-vs-buy and refinance tools.
- Estimates only — your servicer's payoff statement is the binding number.
How the math works
Your regular payment stays fixed — extra amounts are applied entirely to principal. Each prepayment shrinks the balance that accrues interest, which makes the next payment retire slightly more principal, which compounds month over month. That compounding is why +$200/mo can cut years off a 30-year loan even though it barely dents the payment.
We simulate the schedule payment by payment rather than using a shortcut formula, so the final payment is exact — most calculators assume a full-sized final payment and overstate interest by up to a month's spread. If your last payment is smaller, the tool says so.
The honest caveat: prepaying a 3% mortgage when savings accounts yield more is a math loss, and prepaying instead of investing is a risk choice, not just an interest one. The calculator gives you the loan-side numbers; the portfolio-side judgment stays yours.
If your down payment was under 20%, the same schedule also decides something else: when your PMI ends. See When PMI drops off (and how to remove it early).
The same schedule, run at payment frequency: the biweekly mortgage calculator prices the 26-half-payments plan (13 payments a year), and the amortization calculator renders the full year-by-year split your extras land inside.
FAQ
Do extra payments really shorten my mortgage?
Yes, mechanically: an extra payment applied to principal shrinks the balance that accrues interest, and every later payment then retires more principal — the compounding the section above describes. The calculator simulates your schedule payment by payment, so the months saved and the interest saved are computed for your loan, including the exact smaller final payment, not estimated from a table.
Is biweekly better than one extra payment a year?
The math is identical when the annual total is the same: 26 half-payments a year is 13 full payments — the same dollars as your regular payment plus one extra payment a year. The biweekly calculator prices that schedule; what differs between methods is discipline and fees, not arithmetic — the 13th payment has to reach principal immediately either way.
Should I pay off my mortgage early or invest?
Both sides are computable and neither is a recommendation: prepaying earns a guaranteed, untaxed-equivalent return equal to your rate — hard to beat risk-free at high rates, often beatable at low ones — while investing carries uncertain returns and its own taxes. The honest caveat in the section above is the whole frame. The calculator prices the loan side; the portfolio-side judgment depends on your rate, your alternatives, and your risk tolerance.
Where to go next
See the same loan as a schedule — the split, the crossover, the halving year — in the amortization calculator, or price the 13-payments-a-year plan in the biweekly mortgage calculator.