How do I pay off my mortgage in 15 years instead of 25?

Re-amortize the balance over 15 years and pay that amount. On $300,000 at 6 percent, the 15-year payment is $2,531.57 against a $1,932.90 current payment, so $598.67 extra a month does it and saves $124,190.01 of interest. Tell your servicer the extra is principal-only.

Is paying off a mortgage early a good idea?

Extra principal earns exactly your mortgage rate, risk-free and tax-free. At 6 percent or more it competes well with most guaranteed alternatives; at 3 percent it usually loses to investing or even high-yield savings. Rate, employer match, and your need for liquidity decide it, not the emotion of the payoff.

Does the extra payment have to be the same every month?

No. The solved payment is the level amount that hits the date exactly, but principal prepayment is flexible: pay more in good months and less in tight ones, and the date moves accordingly. The requirement is only that extra amounts post as principal reductions, not as prepaid future payments.

What is the difference between this and a recast or a refinance?

This plan keeps your loan and adds monthly principal to hit a chosen date. A recast applies one lump sum and re-amortizes to LOWER the payment over the same term. A refinance replaces the loan entirely, with closing costs and a new rate. Different tools; this one buys time, not payment relief.

Should I check for a prepayment penalty first?

Yes. Most conforming loans made since 2014 cannot charge one, but some loans still do within the first years. Your note or servicer will confirm. Also verify how your servicer wants principal-only payments marked, because a mislabeled extra payment can sit as an unapplied credit.

Mortgage Payoff Calculator

Pick the year you want to be mortgage-free and get the exact monthly payment that does it, plus the extra per month and the interest the plan saves.

X f in

Payment that hits your target

$2,531.57

Current payment (P&I): $1,932.90
Extra per month: $598.67
Interest saved: $124,190.01
Interest on the payoff plan: $155,682.79
Interest if nothing changes: $279,872.80
The plan: Paying $598.67 more per month retires the loan 120 months early.

Test a specific extra payment instead

Sends your balance, rate, and remaining term to the extra-payment calculator.

Balance: current schedule vs payoff plan

Quick answer: With the example inputs this page loads by default, the headline result (Payment that hits your target) comes to $2,531.57. Pick the year you want to be mortgage-free and get the exact monthly payment that does it, plus the extra per month and the interest the plan saves. Change any input above and every figure updates instantly in your browser.

Your inputs never leave your browser, and nothing is stored. See our privacy policy .

Fact-check: results on this page are verified against an independently coded reference oracle that covers all 106 calculators on this site. See how we verify .

To pay a mortgage off early, re-amortize the balance over your target: the required payment is the current balance spread over the years you choose at your rate. On a $300,000 balance at 6 percent with 25 years left, a 15-year payoff takes $2,531.57 a month, $598.67 extra, and saves $124,190.01 of interest. This calculator solves that payment for any target date.

What this result means

The extra-per-month line is the decision: it is the standing cost of buying your payoff date, and the interest-saved line is what that money earns, guaranteed, at your mortgage rate. Whether the plan is smart depends on the alternative: extra principal earns exactly your mortgage rate risk-free, which beats cash savings at lower yields but competes with retirement accounts and their tax breaks. Confirm your loan has no prepayment penalty and that extra payments post as principal. This is an estimate for education, not financial advice.

Assumptions

The required payment re-amortizes your current balance over the target years at your rate, using the same standard amortization core as every loan tool on this site: monthly compounding, each month's interest rounded to the cent, and the final payment absorbing residual rounding so the balance lands on exactly zero.
Both paths are principal and interest only. Property tax, insurance, PMI, and HOA dues continue regardless of the payoff plan and are not included in either payment figure.
The current payment is derived from your balance, rate, and remaining years; it may differ slightly from your statement if your loan has accrued escrow changes or if your remaining term is not a whole year.
The plan assumes the extra amount is paid every month starting now and applied to principal. It does not model one-time lump sums (the mortgage recast calculator covers those), biweekly cadences (the extra and biweekly payoff calculator covers those), refinancing, or prepayment penalties.
A fixed rate is assumed for the whole horizon. This is an estimate for educational purposes only, not financial advice.

Key terms

Definitions for the terms this calculator uses, in our finance glossary .

How it works

This tool answers the inverse of the usual extra-payment question. Instead of asking what a given extra payment saves, you pick the payoff date and it solves the payment: the current balance is re-amortized over the target years at your rate with the standard formula, M = P x r(1+r)^n / ((1+r)^n - 1), where r is the monthly rate and n the number of months. The same formula prices your current schedule over the remaining term, and the difference between the two payments is the extra per month that buys the date.

Both paths run through the site’s single amortization core: monthly compounding, each month’s interest rounded to the cent, and the final payment absorbing residual rounding so the balance lands on exactly zero. Interest saved is the baseline schedule’s total interest minus the payoff plan’s. Because a shorter term at the same rate always accrues less interest, the saving is guaranteed positive whenever the target is genuinely shorter; when it is not, the plan outputs are empty rather than showing a meaningless negative.

Worked example

The defaults: a $300,000 balance at 6 percent with 25 years remaining, paid off in 15.

Current payment: $300,000 over 300 months = $1,932.90, with $279,872.80 of remaining interest.
Payment that hits the target: $300,000 over 180 months = $2,531.57, with $155,682.79 of interest.
The plan: $598.67 extra per month retires the loan 120 months early and saves $124,190.01 of interest.

At 0 percent the payments are pure division ($300,000 / 300 = $1,000.00; $300,000 / 180 = $1,666.67) and neither path accrues interest.

Scope and limitations

Principal and interest only; taxes, insurance, PMI, and HOA dues continue regardless of the plan. The level extra payment starts now and posts as principal. Not modeled: one-time lump sums (the mortgage recast calculator), biweekly cadences (the extra and biweekly payoff calculator), refinancing, prepayment penalties, or rate changes. Whether prepaying beats investing the same money depends on your rate and alternatives; the interpretation on the calculator page frames that tradeoff. This is an estimate for education, not financial advice.

Sources

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, How does paying down a mortgage work?
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, What is a prepayment penalty?
Standard fixed-rate amortization (present value of an annuity) formula.

Frequently asked questions

How do I pay off my mortgage in 15 years instead of 25?: Re-amortize the balance over 15 years and pay that amount. On $300,000 at 6 percent, the 15-year payment is $2,531.57 against a $1,932.90 current payment, so $598.67 extra a month does it and saves $124,190.01 of interest. Tell your servicer the extra is principal-only.
Is paying off a mortgage early a good idea?: Extra principal earns exactly your mortgage rate, risk-free and tax-free. At 6 percent or more it competes well with most guaranteed alternatives; at 3 percent it usually loses to investing or even high-yield savings. Rate, employer match, and your need for liquidity decide it, not the emotion of the payoff.
Does the extra payment have to be the same every month?: No. The solved payment is the level amount that hits the date exactly, but principal prepayment is flexible: pay more in good months and less in tight ones, and the date moves accordingly. The requirement is only that extra amounts post as principal reductions, not as prepaid future payments.
What is the difference between this and a recast or a refinance?: This plan keeps your loan and adds monthly principal to hit a chosen date. A recast applies one lump sum and re-amortizes to LOWER the payment over the same term. A refinance replaces the loan entirely, with closing costs and a new rate. Different tools; this one buys time, not payment relief.
Should I check for a prepayment penalty first?: Yes. Most conforming loans made since 2014 cannot charge one, but some loans still do within the first years. Your note or servicer will confirm. Also verify how your servicer wants principal-only payments marked, because a mislabeled extra payment can sit as an unapplied credit.

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By Sam Sage Last reviewed July 2026.