Money

Mortgage calculators

A mortgage is the largest arithmetic problem most people ever take on, and small differences compound into very large ones. These work the real month-by-month numbers rather than a simplified estimate.

The four tools here answer different questions. The refinance calculator is for deciding whether switching is worth it, and it checks the total-interest question that catches people out when a refinance resets the term. The home loan repayment calculator gives you the repayment weekly, fortnightly or monthly, with the year-by-year split between interest and principal. The interest charge check is for a statement you have already received: it works out what you should have been charged, and the answer depends on which compounding convention your country uses. The rate change calculator is for a rate move that has just been announced.

The thing worth understanding before any of them: in the early years of a mortgage, almost every dollar you pay goes to interest rather than to the debt itself. That is why an extra repayment early is worth so much more than the same repayment later, and why a refinance that resets you to year one can cost more overall even at a lower rate.

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