Loan Calculator
Enter how much you're borrowing, the annual interest rate, and how many years you'll take to pay it off — see your monthly payment, total interest, and a full year-by-year payoff schedule update instantly as you type.
Enter how much you're borrowing, the annual interest rate, and how many years you'll take to pay it off — see your monthly payment, total interest, and a full year-by-year payoff schedule update instantly as you type.
| Year | Principal paid | Interest paid | Remaining balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,768.03 | $551.90 | $8,231.97 |
| 2 | $1,877.08 | $442.86 | $6,354.89 |
| 3 | $1,992.85 | $327.08 | $4,362.03 |
| 4 | $2,115.77 | $204.17 | $2,246.27 |
| 5 | $2,246.27 | $73.67 | $0.00 |
This uses the same "reducing balance" method almost every bank and lender uses for a standard loan or mortgage: each month's interest is charged only on what you still owe, so the interest portion shrinks and the principal portion grows with every payment, even though the payment itself stays the same.
With a monthly interest rate of r (the annual rate ÷ 12 ÷ 100) and n total monthly payments (years × 12), the fixed monthly payment is:
Payment = Loan amount × r × (1 + r)ⁿ ÷ [(1 + r)ⁿ − 1]
If the rate is 0%, it's simply the loan amount divided by the number of payments.
For each year, we add up 12 months of payments: the interest portion (balance still owed × monthly rate) and the principal portion (payment − interest) for each month, showing the running balance at the end of the year.
Suppose you borrow $10,000 at a 6% annual interest rate for 5 years (60 monthly payments). The monthly payment works out to about $193.33. Over the full 5 years you'd pay about $1,599.68 in interest, for a total repayment of $11,599.68.
Interest is front-loaded: in year 1, about $551.90 of your payments goes to interest and $1,768.03 reduces the balance. By year 5, only $73.67 is interest and $2,246.27 goes to principal — because by then the remaining balance, and so the interest charged on it, is much smaller.
We use the standard reducing-balance formula that banks use for ordinary loans and mortgages: it finds the fixed monthly amount that pays off the loan amount plus interest, charged only on the balance still owed, over the number of months you enter. If the interest rate is 0%, the payment is simply the loan amount divided by the number of months.
Interest is calculated each month on whatever balance is still outstanding. Early on, you owe almost the full loan amount, so more of each payment goes to interest; as the balance shrinks, more of the same fixed payment goes toward principal instead.
No — this shows principal and interest only, at the rate you enter. Real loans often include extra fees, insurance, or closing costs, so check your lender's official offer for the exact amount you would pay.
For information only. Not financial or tax advice.