Refinance calculator: break-even month and lifetime cost

Enter what you owe, your current rate and years left, and the new loan's rate, term and closing costs. See the new payment, the simple and true break-even month, what you'd be ahead after the years you expect to stay, and the difference over the life of the loan.

✓ TestedSame cent-rounded amortization as the tested mortgage spreadsheet

How it works

Both loans are amortized month by month: interest is the balance times the rate ÷ 12, rounded to the cent, and the last payment clears the balance. The simple break-even divides the cash you pay up front by the monthly saving. The true break-even is the first month in which the payments you have saved, plus the difference between what you would still owe on each loan, cover that cash. It counts that a new, longer loan pays down more slowly. If you add the closing costs to the loan, nothing is paid up front, but you owe more. Worked example: refinance break-even tables.