Loan calculator: monthly payment and amortization schedule
See the monthly payment on a personal, car or home loan, the interest you pay, and the month by month amortization schedule, with an optional upfront fee.
How it is calculated
The calculator uses a fixed payment, the French system most banks use for personal, car and home loans. Interest takes its biggest share early on. Each payment lowers what you owe, so the interest shrinks and more of the payment goes to the loan.
As a formula: payment = amount × r ÷ (1 − (1 + r)^−n), where r is the annual rate ÷ 12 and n is the number of months. With the starting example, $10,000 at 18% over 36 months, r is 1.5% and the payment is $361.52. In the first month $150 is interest and $211.52 pays down the loan.
Each month the interest is what you owe × r, rounded to the cent. Because of that rounding the last payment can be a few cents off: it is the one that leaves the balance at zero. At 0% the payment is the amount ÷ the number of months.
The upfront fee is a percentage of the amount, charged once when you get the loan. It adds to the total you pay but not to the payment. Insurance, taxes and other charges a lender adds to each payment are not included, so your real payment can be higher.
Questions
How is a loan payment calculated?
Most banks use a fixed payment: amount × r ÷ (1 − (1 + r)^−n), where r is the annual rate ÷ 12 and n is the number of months. A $10,000 loan at 18% a year over 36 months has r = 1.5% and a payment of $361.52. Enter the amount, the rate and the term above and the calculator does this for any loan.
What is an amortization schedule?
The month by month list of your payments. Each row shows how much of the payment goes to interest, how much pays down the loan, and what you still owe. Interest takes its biggest share in the first months, and by the end almost all of the payment pays down the loan.
Is a longer term better?
A longer term lowers the payment but raises the interest. The same $10,000 at 18% costs $499.24 a month and $1,981.78 in interest over 24 months, $361.52 and $3,014.89 over 36, and $253.93 and $5,236.20 over 60.
Do I enter the annual or the monthly rate?
Enter the annual rate. If your lender quotes a monthly rate, multiply it by 12: 1.5% a month is 18% a year.
Can Outlayr track my loan?
Yes. Log it as money you borrowed, under the bank or the person who lent it, and it shows as a balance until it is paid back. Add a payoff plan with a date and Outlayr shows what that takes a month, and whether you are ahead or behind. The free plan holds 3 people and 2 payoff plans.
Is what I type saved?
No. The math runs in your browser, and nothing you type is stored or sent anywhere.
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