Amortization Calculator

An amortization schedule reveals the uncomfortable truth about loans: in the early years, almost every payment goes to interest, not principal. On a 30-year mortgage at 7%, your first payment is roughly 88% interest. After five years of payments, you've paid about $120,000 but reduced your balance by only $15,000. Understanding this front-loading effect changes how you think about loans and extra payments. An extra $100/month toward a 30-year mortgage in year one doesn't just eliminate one payment — it eliminates months from the back end of the schedule, where you'd otherwise be paying almost pure interest. This calculator generates the full amortization schedule for any loan: mortgage, auto, personal, or student. You can see exactly how much of each payment goes to interest vs. principal, your remaining balance at any point, and the precise impact of extra monthly payments on total interest paid and payoff date. Use it before taking out any loan to understand the true cost over time, not just the monthly payment. Use it on existing loans to model prepayment strategies — even small additional payments in the early years have disproportionate impact.