Amortization Calculator
Build a full amortization schedule for any loan, and see how extra payments cut your interest and payoff time.
| Summary | Value |
|---|---|
| Monthly payment | - |
| Total of payments | - |
| Total interest | - |
| Number of payments | - |
| Interest as % of loan | - |
Yearly amortization schedule
| Year | Principal paid | Interest paid | Ending balance |
|---|
Quick Answer
An amortization schedule breaks each loan payment into principal and interest. Early payments are mostly interest; over time the principal portion grows. For a $250,000 loan at 6.5% over 30 years, the monthly payment is about $1,580. Enter your loan amount, rate, and term above to see the full month-by-month schedule, total interest, and how extra payments shorten the term.
How loan amortization works
Amortization is the process of paying off a loan with a series of equal, scheduled payments. Each payment is split two ways: part covers the interest that accrued on the current balance, and the rest reduces the principal you still owe. Because interest is charged on the outstanding balance, and that balance is largest at the beginning, your earliest payments are mostly interest and only a little principal. As the balance shrinks, the split steadily flips, so your final payments are almost entirely principal.
The fixed monthly payment for a standard amortizing loan comes from this formula:
M = P × r(1 + r)^n / ((1 + r)^n − 1)Here P is the loan amount (principal), r is the monthly interest rate (the annual rate divided by 12), and n is the total number of monthly payments (years × 12). For a $250,000 loan at 6.5% over 30 years, that works out to a payment near $1,580, of which roughly $1,354 is interest in month one and only about $226 is principal. The calculator above runs this for your own numbers and lays out every payment.
Why extra payments save so much
Any amount you pay above the scheduled payment goes entirely to principal. That immediately lowers the balance future interest is charged on, which is why even small recurring extra payments can shave years off a long loan and cut total interest by tens of thousands of dollars. Enter an extra monthly amount above to see your new payoff date and interest savings. This calculator assumes a fixed rate and that extra payments are applied to principal; it does not model escrow, PMI, fees, or variable-rate resets.
Reading your schedule
The yearly table summarizes how much principal and interest you pay each year and your balance at year-end. The full monthly schedule (use the button above) shows the exact principal, interest, and remaining balance for every single payment, and you can export the whole thing to CSV for a spreadsheet. This is the same month-by-month breakdown a lender uses, and it is useful for budgeting, comparing loan terms, or checking a payoff quote.