Tools · Run the numbers
Extra-payment payoff
What a little extra principal each month — or switching to biweekly — does to your payoff and interest.
Extra principal early in a loan is where the big interest savings hide. See what an extra amount each month — or switching to biweekly payments — does to your payoff.
Interest saved with $200/mo extra
$108,917
paid off in 23 yrs 11 mo instead of 30 yrs
Biweekly means 26 half-payments a year — one extra full payment annually. We model it the way servicers actually credit payments: monthly, not every two weeks. Confirm your servicer applies extra to principal, offers biweekly without fees, and that your loan has no prepayment penalty (rare on recent loans, but worth checking).
Estimates only — not a quote, pre-approval, or offer of credit. Your actual terms come from a lender's Loan Estimate. Extra principal only counts if your servicer applies it to principal — tell them explicitly, and confirm how biweekly payments are credited.
Terms on this page
- AmortizationThe schedule by which your loan is paid off; early on most of each payment is interest, later most goes to principal.
- PrepaymentPaying extra toward principal ahead of schedule, which shortens the loan and cuts total interest.
- Biweekly paymentsPaying half your monthly payment every two weeks — 26 halves a year, which equals one extra full payment annually.
- Prepayment penaltyA fee some loans charge for paying off early — rare on recent consumer mortgages, but worth confirming before you prepay.
- Principal & interest (P&I)The core loan payment — repaying what you borrowed plus the cost of borrowing it; taxes and insurance ride on top.
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