How to use it
Three boxes get you a repayment. The optional ones are where it gets interesting.
Put in the three that matter
Loan amount, interest rate and term. Use the rate on your own loan statement, not one you've seen advertised — the point is to see your position, not a hypothetical one. If you're not sure of the rate, it's on the front page of your statement or in your banking app.
Read the split, not just the repayment
The bar shows how your very first repayment divides between interest and principal. On a new thirty-year loan, most of it is interest — which is why the early years feel like nothing is happening. That's normal, and it's also the reason extra repayments early are worth so much more than extra repayments late.
Add an extra repayment and watch the term move
Put a number in the extra repayment box — start with something you'd actually sustain rather than something aspirational. The term and the total interest both move. This is the single most useful thing the calculator does, and the number usually surprises people.
Put your age in
This is the one worth doing even if you skip everything else. Enter your age now and the age you'd like to stop working, and you'll see what would still be owing on the loan at that point. For a lot of households that number is the reason to have a conversation.
What it assumes
- Repayments are monthly, made on time, with no missed or partial payments.
- The interest rate you enter stays the same for the whole term. In reality rates move, and that changes every figure shown.
- Interest is calculated monthly on the full loan balance. Any offset account balance is ignored, because a real offset balance moves with your pay cycle and a single figure would misstate the benefit either way. If you hold an offset, the true position is better than this calculator shows — by how much is worth a conversation.
- The loan is principal and interest for the full term, with no interest-only period, redraw, fixed period or repayment holiday.
- No fees are included — no application, settlement, valuation, annual package, monthly account or discharge fees. Real loans have some of these and they change the total cost.
- Fortnightly and weekly figures are the monthly repayment converted for comparison only. They are not the same as paying fortnightly, which repays a loan faster because you make the equivalent of thirteen monthly payments a year.
- Everything is rounded for display.
Important
The results from this calculator should be used as an indication only. Results do not represent either quotes or pre-qualifications for a loan. The specific details of your loan will be provided to you in your loan contract. It is advised that you get in touch with us before taking out a loan so that we can provide you with advice that is tailored to your situation.
The calculator does not state or offer any interest rate. Every figure it produces comes from numbers you enter yourself. Terms, conditions, fees and charges may apply. Normal lending criteria apply. Rates are subject to change. Approved applicants only.
The other half of the picture
This calculator handles the loan side. What it can't see is the part that decides whether the extra repayment box is realistic in the first place — what actually happens to your money between paydays. That's what the Cashflow Drilldown is for.