Debt Payoff Calculator
Calculate how long it takes to pay off debt and total interest paid based on your balance, rate, and payment.
Debt Payoff Timeline
How debt payoff is calculated:
The number of months to pay off a debt depends on three factors:
- Your current balance
- The annual interest rate (APR)
- Your monthly payment amount
Formula:
Months = -log(1 - (balance × monthly_rate / payment)) / log(1 + monthly_rate)
Where monthly_rate = APR / 12 / 100.
Key insights:
- Paying only the minimum extends your debt for years and costs far more in interest.
- Even small increases in monthly payment can dramatically shorten payoff time.
- A 20% APR on $5,000 with $100/month payments takes 9.5 years and costs $6,300 in interest.
- The same balance at $200/month takes only 2.5 years with $1,800 in interest.
Tip: Focus extra payments on the highest-interest debt first (the “avalanche method”) to minimize total interest paid.