Calculators
How long to repay calculator
Instead of starting from a loan term, start from real life: the balance you owe and the repayment you actually make. This calculator estimates how long the loan will take to reach zero, the total interest along the way, and what a little extra each week could change.
Estimated time to repay
0 months
Estimated total interest
$0
Pay a little more, finish a lot sooner
0 months earlier
This calculator gives estimates for general information only. It is not credit advice or an offer of credit, and it does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Results depend on the figures you enter and the assumptions shown below, which you can edit. Actual amounts will vary with lender fees, charges and credit criteria. Consider your circumstances and seek advice before acting. Talk to us and we'll search for options available to you across 60+ lenders.
The default values are examples only and are not a quote, an offer of credit or a suggestion about any particular loan or lender. The rate used is the rate you enter, and it is assumed to stay the same for the whole projection, which real rates never do, so long-range results are indicative only. Results are not intended to be relied on when making a decision about a financial or credit product. Consider obtaining advice from a licensed professional before making financial decisions.
Assumptions (you can change these)
Every figure this calculator relies on is editable above: balance, interest rate, repayment, frequency, offset balance and the what-if extra amount. The conventions below describe how the maths works.
Interest accrues once per repayment period (annual rate divided by 52, 26 or 12 for weekly, fortnightly or monthly repayments) on the loan balance minus the offset balance, never below zero. There is no daily accrual. Amounts are rounded to the cent each period and the final period is adjusted so the balance lands exactly on zero.
The offset balance is treated as staying constant: no regular deposits or withdrawals. Money in an offset never makes repayments for you; it only reduces the interest charged.
The what-if extra is entered per week and converted to your repayment frequency (weekly amount x 52 / periods per year), so $50 a week is about $216.67 a month.
Interest-saved figures two or more years out are also shown in today's dollars, discounted at the assumed inflation rate below. The saving is discounted from the end of the current payoff timeline, which is the conservative end of the range.
Fees, charges, rate changes, redraw rules and lender minimum-repayment requirements are not modelled. Most lenders set a minimum repayment for your loan; this calculator does not check yours.
Plain English
Why small extras finish loans years early
Every repayment does two jobs: it pays the interest charged for that period, and whatever is left over reduces the balance. Early in a loan the interest share is big, so the balance falls slowly. Anything you pay above the interest goes straight to the balance, and next period there is slightly less balance to charge interest on. That snowball is why a modest extra amount, kept up, can cut years off a loan.
Reading your result
- Time to repay is how long the balance takes to reach zero at the repayment you entered, if the rate never changed.
- Total interest is every interest dollar charged along the way. Finishing sooner almost always means a smaller number here.
- The what-if line shows the same loan with your chosen extra added, so you can see what a sustainable bump would do.
If the calculator says you can't make progress
When a repayment doesn't even cover the period's interest, the balance can never fall. The calculator tells you the minimum that starts moving the balance, but a repayment just above interest still means a very long loan. If your actual minimum repayment feels like it's all interest, that's worth a conversation, sometimes the fix is a different loan structure rather than a bigger repayment.
Want to know what your loan could look like with a sharper rate or a different setup? We compare options across 60+ lenders and explain them in plain English.
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