How to use the loan calculator
- Check the currency (it follows your device's region) and enter the amount you want to borrow.
- Enter the yearly interest rate from your loan offer and the term in years or months.
- Read the monthly payment, total interest and payoff date. Add extra payments to see how much sooner you'd be done.
- Open the amortization schedule to see the balance fall year by year, or tap a year for each payment.
Loan payment formula
M = P × i ÷ (1 − (1 + i)−n)
P is the amount borrowed, i the rate per payment (the yearly rate ÷ 12) and n the number of payments. Each payment first pays the interest on what you still owe; the rest reduces the balance. That's why the balance falls slowly at first and faster towards the end.
Worked example
Borrow $20,000 at 8% a year for 5 years. The monthly rate is 0.08 ÷ 12 = 0.6667% and there are 60 payments, so the payment is $405.53. The first month's interest is $20,000 × 0.6667% = $133.33, so $272.19 of the first payment repays the loan and $19,727.81 is left. Over the 5 years you pay $24,331.67: the $20,000 back plus $4,331.67 interest.
Which loan calculator?
- Car loan calculator: down payment, trade-in, sales tax, fees and balloon payments.
- Personal loan calculator: the APR after an origination or processing fee.
- Student loan calculator: interest that builds up while you study.
- Business loan calculator: weekly payments, fees and factor rates.
- Mortgage calculator for a home, and the EMI calculator for loans in India.