Disclaimer
Educational calculators. Not financial advice, and not a substitute for a professional who knows your situation.
Reviewed
No financial advice
FinCalculate publishes educational tools and general information. Nothing on this site is financial, investment, tax, legal or accounting advice, and nothing here is a recommendation to buy, sell, hold, borrow, refinance, prepay or invest in anything. We are not a financial adviser, lender, mortgage broker, investment adviser, accountant or tax preparer, and using this site creates no advisory or fiduciary relationship of any kind.
The calculators do not know your income, your job security, your other debts, your filing status, your state, your goals or your tolerance for risk. A result produced here is a starting point for a conversation with a qualified professional, not a conclusion.
Estimates, not quotes
Every figure on this site is an estimate produced by a simplified model. It will differ from what a lender, servicer, brokerage or tax preparer tells you, and their number is the one that counts. Amortization figures in particular depend on your servicer's exact conventions for day count, payment posting and rounding, which vary between institutions.
Certainty is not modelled
This is the most important limitation here. Paying down a debt produces a guaranteed return equal to its interest rate. An investment return is not guaranteed and may be negative for long stretches. Our calculators compare expected values and assume returns arrive smoothly, which no real market does. A breakeven rate tells you which choice has the better expected outcome, not which one is safer, and the two are frequently different.
Related considerations that these models leave out entirely include liquidity (money invested can usually be reached; home equity usually cannot), sequence-of-returns risk, job loss, emergency reserves, the psychological value of being debt free, employer matching, investment fees, and creditor protections that vary by state.
Tax treatment is simplified
Tax rules are complex, change frequently and depend on circumstances we do not ask about. The models here apply a single marginal rate and make specific simplifying assumptions, all of which are listed on each calculator page. They do not model filing status, the standard deduction, state or local taxes, phase-outs, the Alternative Minimum Tax, contribution limits, early-withdrawal penalties, required minimum distributions, or the mortgage-balance limits on interest deductibility. Do not rely on anything here for a tax decision.
Accuracy and errors
We test these calculators carefully and check them against closed-form results where one exists, but no guarantee is made that they are free of errors, or that the information here is current or complete. If you find a mistake, please report it, see contact. Corrections are made promptly and dated.
External links
Links to third-party sources, including government publications, are provided for reference. We do not control those sites and are not responsible for their content or availability.
Limitation of liability
This site and everything on it is provided “as is”, without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including any implied warranties of accuracy, merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, FinCalculate accepts no liability for any loss or damage arising from reliance on anything published here. You are responsible for your own financial decisions.
Advertising
This site does not currently display advertising. If that changes, advertisements will be distinguishable from editorial content, and no advertiser will influence the models, assumptions or results published here.