Remaining loan balance calculator
By Jude Wallis
After 60 payments on a $250,000 loan at 6.5 percent over 30 years, the balance is $234,027.44. Five years of $1,580.17 payments have gone in and the debt is down by about 6 percent, because early payments are mostly interest.
Remaining balance
$234,027.44
After 60 payments of $1,580.17.
- Remaining balance
- $234,027.44
- Scheduled payment
- $1,580.17
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The formula
is the original loan, the monthly rate, the monthly payment and the payments made. The first term grows the debt, the second credits the payments and their compounding.
Early payments are mostly interest
In month one the interest on $250,000 at 6.5 percent is , out of a $1,580.17 payment. Around 226 goes to principal and the rest is rent on the money. Five years of that leaves $234,027.44 owing.
The balance falls slowly and then quickly. By payment 120 it is $211,940.32: the second five years removed more debt than the first five, on identical payments, because each month's interest is charged on a smaller balance.
Two ways to reach the same number
The closed form above computes the balance directly. Walking the schedule month by month, subtracting interest from each payment and taking the rest off principal, arrives at the same figure, and it is the version worth doing once by hand because it shows where the money went.
This calculator solves the payment first from the original loan, rate and term, then applies it for the number of payments made. That is why entering a payment that does not match the loan will not reproduce a lender's statement: the payment is derived, not assumed.
What the balance is used for
Three decisions need it. Refinancing needs the payoff figure, selling needs the amount that clears at completion, and any loan to value test needs the current balance rather than the original loan.
It is also the honest baseline for extra payments. A lump sum applied today changes every later balance, and how extra payments work traces that through the rest of the schedule.
What the figure represents
This is the scheduled balance on a fixed rate loan after a whole number of payments, with nothing extra paid and nothing missed. A lender's payoff quote also includes interest accrued since the last payment and any fees, so it is the same balance plus the days in between. Amortisation is the process this figure comes out of. This is educational material, not financial advice.
Worked examples
\$250,000 at 6.5 percent after 60 payments
The loan was $250,000 at 6.5 percent over 30 years, and 60 payments have been made. What is the balance?
- The scheduled payment is $1,580.17 a month.
- Apply 60 of those payments, charging interest on the falling balance each month.
- The balance after 60 payments is 234027.44.
The remaining balance is $234,027.44 after 60 payments of $1,580.17 on a $250,000 loan.
The same loan five years later
Same $250,000 loan, same 6.5 percent, but now 120 payments have been made.
- The payment is unchanged at $1,580.17.
- After 120 payments the balance is 211940.32.
The balance is $211,940.32 after 120 payments. The second five years cleared more debt than the first five, on the same payment.
Assuming a third of the term clears a third of the debt
Sixty payments is a sixth of a 30 year loan, and the balance has fallen from $250,000 to $234,027.44, around 6 percent. Repayment is not linear in time, which is why a mid term balance is always higher than intuition expects.
Common questions
Why does the balance fall so slowly at first?
Because interest is charged on the whole balance early on, so only a small part of each payment reaches principal.
Does this match a lender's payoff quote?
It matches the scheduled balance. A payoff quote adds interest accrued since the last payment and any fees.
Is this financial advice?
No. It is educational material for the amortisation balance identity.
Keep reading
This page is educational material, not financial advice. The figures come from the formula shown and assume the inputs you enter hold for the whole term. Your own rate, fees, taxes and timing will differ, so treat the output as arithmetic to check a decision against, not as a recommendation.