Amortization Calculator - Payment Schedule

What is amortization?

Amortization is the process of paying off a debt with a known repayment term in regular installments over time. Mortgages, with fixed repayment terms of up to 30 years (sometimes more) are fully-amortizing loans, even if they have adjustable rates. Revolving loans (such as those for credit cards) don't have a fixed repayment term, are considered are open-ended debt and so don't actually amortize, even though they may be paid off over time.

What is an amortization schedule?

Simply put, an amortization schedule is a table showing regularly scheduled payments and how they chip away at the loan balance over time. Amortization schedules also will typically show you a payment-by-payment breakout of the loan's remaining balance at the start (or end) of a period, how much of each payment is comprised of interest and how much is repayment of principal. Although the total monthly payment you'll make may remain the same, the amounts of each of these payment components change over time as the loan is repaid and the loan's remaining term declines.

An amortization schedule can be created for a fixed-term loan; all that is needed is the loan's term, interest rate and dollar amount of the loan, and a complete schedule of payments can be created. This is very straightforward for a fixed-term, fixed-rate mortgage.

For Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs) amortization works the same, as the loan's total term (usually 30 years) is known at the outset. However, interest rates for ARMs change at regular intervals, so both the total monthly payment due and the mix of principal and interest in a given payment can change considerably at each interest-rate "reset".