easyMcalc

easyMcalc · https://easymcalc.com/refinance-calculator/

Refinance calculator

An estimate for information only, not financial advice. How the payment is worked out

Closing costs paid in cashMethod checked 12 October 2026

Break-even 44 years and 2 months Full schedule

The loan you have
The nominal rate, as a percentage. Up to four decimals.
Your current payment works out at $2,227.71 a month from these three figures, so there is no need to type it.
The loan you are offered
average 30-year fixed mortgage rate in the United States, 8 October 2026. Published by Freddie Mac, Primary Mortgage Market Survey
Paid in cash at closing rather than added to the balance, which is what makes a break-even month mean anything.

Is it worth it

Closing costs paid back in 44 years and 2 months

At that rate the closing costs take 44 years and 2 months to come back, which is longer than the new loan runs. Treat it as not paying for itself.

New payment
$2,215.62
Current payment
$2,227.71
Extra interest
$49,114.67

Over the whole loan, and counting the closing costs, refinancing costs you $55,514.67 more. A lower payment and a higher total are not a contradiction: the debt is being spread over more months.

The new loan runs 30 years against 28 years left on the current one. Everything above already accounts for that.

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What each loan costs from here

Two running totals over the same term. The first plan comes to $748,502.38 and the second to $804,017.05.

  • Current loan
  • New loan
  • Difference
  • 1M
  • 500k
  • 0
What each loan costs from here Year 1: $26,732.52 paid so far on the first plan, $32,987.44 on the second.Year 2: $53,465.04 paid so far on the first plan, $59,574.88 on the second.Year 3: $80,197.56 paid so far on the first plan, $86,162.32 on the second.Year 4: $106,930.08 paid so far on the first plan, $112,749.76 on the second.Year 5: $133,662.60 paid so far on the first plan, $139,337.20 on the second.Year 6: $160,395.12 paid so far on the first plan, $165,924.64 on the second.Year 7: $187,127.64 paid so far on the first plan, $192,512.08 on the second.Year 8: $213,860.16 paid so far on the first plan, $219,099.52 on the second.Year 9: $240,592.68 paid so far on the first plan, $245,686.96 on the second.Year 10: $267,325.20 paid so far on the first plan, $272,274.40 on the second.Year 11: $294,057.72 paid so far on the first plan, $298,861.84 on the second.Year 12: $320,790.24 paid so far on the first plan, $325,449.28 on the second.Year 13: $347,522.76 paid so far on the first plan, $352,036.72 on the second.Year 14: $374,255.28 paid so far on the first plan, $378,624.16 on the second.Year 15: $400,987.80 paid so far on the first plan, $405,211.60 on the second.Year 16: $427,720.32 paid so far on the first plan, $431,799.04 on the second.Year 17: $454,452.84 paid so far on the first plan, $458,386.48 on the second.Year 18: $481,185.36 paid so far on the first plan, $484,973.92 on the second.Year 19: $507,917.88 paid so far on the first plan, $511,561.36 on the second.Year 20: $534,650.40 paid so far on the first plan, $538,148.80 on the second.Year 21: $561,382.92 paid so far on the first plan, $564,736.24 on the second.Year 22: $588,115.44 paid so far on the first plan, $591,323.68 on the second.Year 23: $614,847.96 paid so far on the first plan, $617,911.12 on the second.Year 24: $641,580.48 paid so far on the first plan, $644,498.56 on the second.Year 25: $668,313 paid so far on the first plan, $671,086 on the second.Year 26: $695,045.52 paid so far on the first plan, $697,673.44 on the second.Year 27: $721,778.04 paid so far on the first plan, $724,260.88 on the second.Year 28: $748,502.38 paid so far on the first plan, $750,848.32 on the second.Year 29: $748,502.38 paid so far on the first plan, $777,435.76 on the second.Year 30: $748,502.38 paid so far on the first plan, $804,017.05 on the second.
  • 400k
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  • 200k
  • 100k
  • 0
What each loan costs from here

Year 1Year 8Year 15Year 22Year 30

The upper panel is what each loan has cost by that point, the new one starting at its closing costs. The strip under it is what is still owed on each. The upright line is month 530, where the new loan has finally paid back its closing costs.

The two loans, side by side

FigureLoan you haveLoan offered
Monthly payment$2,227.71$2,215.62
Paid off in28 years30 years
Interest still to pay$428,502.38$477,617.05
Everything still to pay$748,502.38$804,017.05

The new loan's total includes the closing costs. Both columns count only what is left to pay from today, so what you have already paid on the current loan is not in either.

How to work out the break-even point of a refinance

Take the two loans in the answer above: $320,000 owed at 7.25% a year with 28 years left, and an offer at 7.40% a year over 30 years, with $6,400 of closing costs paid in cash.

  1. Work out the payment on the loan you have with the standard loan payment formula, P × r ÷ (1 − (1 + r)^−n), where P is the balance, r the annual rate divided by twelve and n the months left. This calculator's own schedule rounds each month's interest to the cent and settles on $2,227.71 instead. $320,000 × (7.25% ÷ 12) ÷ (1 − (1 + 7.25% ÷ 12)^−336) = $2,227.70
  2. Do the same for the offer: the same balance at the new rate, over the new term. The calculator's schedule comes to the same $2,215.62. $320,000 × (7.40% ÷ 12) ÷ (1 − (1 + 7.40% ÷ 12)^−360) = $2,215.62
  3. The difference between the two payments is what refinancing saves each month. $2,227.71 − $2,215.62 = $12.09 a month
  4. Divide the closing costs by that saving to see how many months of it they take. A part month still has to be waited out, so round up to the next whole month. $6,400 ÷ $12.09 ≈ 529.36, so month 530
  5. Check it: by month 530 the savings added up cover the closing costs, and a month earlier they do not. 529 × $12.09 = $6,395.61 < $6,400 530 × $12.09 = $6,407.70 ≥ $6,400
  6. The break-even month is only half the answer, because a longer term can lower the payment and still cost more in the end. Compare everything left to pay on each loan, with the closing costs added to the new one. $797,617.05 + $6,400 = $804,017.05 $804,017.05 − $748,502.38 = $55,514.67 more

Month 530 is 44 years and 2 months from closing, the figure in the answer above. That is longer than the new loan runs, so in practice the closing costs never come back.

Two questions that can disagree

Refinancing is usually presented as one question: does the payment go down? It is really two, and the answer to one is regularly the opposite of the answer to the other.

The first question is monthly. A lower rate, or the same debt spread over more months, reduces what leaves your account. The second is total. Spreading the same debt over more months means more months of interest, so a refinance that lowers the payment can easily raise what the loan costs in the end. Take a loan twenty-eight years into its life and refinance it into a fresh thirty-year term and the monthly saving is real, the total is worse, and both facts matter.

This page always shows both. The headline is the break-even month, because that is what people come for, but the lifetime figure sits directly underneath and says plainly when it points the other way.

How the break-even month is worked out

Closing costs are paid in cash at signing here, not added to the balance. That is a convention, and it is the one that makes a break-even month mean anything: roll the costs into the loan and the two loans are different sizes, so there is nothing clean left to compare.

The break-even month is then simply the first month at which the accumulated monthly saving covers those costs. Save two hundred a month against four thousand in costs and you are even in month twenty. If you expect to sell or refinance again before that month arrives, the deal costs you money however good the rate looks.

When the new payment is higher, there is no break-even month and the page says so rather than printing a negative number. That case is not a failure: shortening the term almost always raises the payment, and what you get for it is a much smaller interest bill.

Why we do not ask for your current payment

The form asks for the balance, the rate and the months left, and derives the current payment from those three. Asking for the payment as well invites a set of four figures that contradict one another, and a calculator that silently believes the wrong one produces an answer that looks authoritative and is not.

The derived payment is shown under the field so you can check it against your statement. If it is noticeably out, one of the three inputs is wrong, and usually it is the months left: count from the payoff date on your statement, not from the original term.

Common questions

Should I refinance if the rate drop is small?

The old rule about needing a full point of improvement is a rule of thumb about closing costs, not about rates. What matters is the break-even month against how long you will keep the loan. A small drop with low costs can pay back quickly; a large drop with heavy costs may not.

What about a cash-out refinance?

Not modelled. The new loan here is for the same balance as the old one. A cash-out refinance borrows more than you owe, which makes it a different transaction with a different question attached, and comparing it against the existing loan on payment alone would be misleading.

Does this include mortgage insurance?

No. If a refinance changes your loan-to-value enough to add or remove mortgage insurance, that is a real monthly difference this page does not see. Price both loans on the mortgage calculator to capture it.

What counts as closing costs?

Origination or application fees, appraisal, title work, recording fees, and any points you pay to buy the rate down. Your lender's loan estimate itemises them. Escrow amounts being re-collected are not a cost: that money is still yours.

Is the rate here an APR?

No, both rates are nominal rates. An annual percentage rate folds fees into a single figure, which makes it useful for comparing offers and useless for building a schedule. This page separates the rate from the costs so you can see each one's effect.

Is anything I type stored?

No. The calculation runs on our server from the values in the address bar, nothing is written down, and the access log for this site drops the query string precisely so that the numbers you enter are never recorded.

Sources

No figure on this page is read from a table, so there is nothing to source. What these documents define is the regulated rate this calculator deliberately does not compute:

How the payment is worked out

Both loans are built by the same integer schedule as every other page here. The current payment is derived from the balance, the rate and the months left rather than asked for, so the four figures cannot contradict each other. The break-even month is the first month at which the accumulated monthly saving covers the closing costs, counted on the level instalments. A cash-out refinance, where the new loan is larger than the balance, is not modelled.

It compares two loans from their nominal rates alone, so neither figure is an APR, and a lender's own quote can differ.