Mortgage Extra Payment Guides
Plain-English explanations of the math, the money decisions, and the servicer mechanics behind paying extra on a home loan — written for U.S. homeowners, with reference guides for other countries.
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The fundamentals of how extra payments save money, and how to decide whether to make them.
How Extra Mortgage Payments Work
The amortization math behind interest savings, explained without jargon — plus why timing matters more than most people realize.
Read the guide →Pay Off Early vs. Invest
A math-first framework: the guaranteed return, taxes, risk, liquidity, and the priority order most U.S. households should follow.
Read the guide →Emergency Fund vs. Mortgage Payoff
Why cash reserves come first, how big they need to be, and why prepaid principal is the least accessible dollar you own.
Read the guide →U.S. mortgage mechanics
How American loans and servicers actually handle extra money.
Does Paying Extra Lower My Payment?
Short answer: no. Extra principal shortens the term and leaves the payment unchanged — here's why, and the two ways to actually lower it.
Read the guide →Recast vs. Extra Payments
How a mortgage recast re-amortizes to a lower payment, what it costs, which lenders allow it, and when it beats plain prepayment.
Read the guide →Apply Extra Payments to Principal
Overpayments aren't automatically applied to principal. How to instruct your servicer, and how to check on your next statement that it worked.
Read the guide →Remove PMI with Extra Payments
How loan-to-value works, the 80% and 78% thresholds, and how extra principal ends private mortgage insurance years early.
Read the guide →ARM vs. Fixed and Extra Payments
On an ARM, extra principal also lowers your future payment at each rate adjustment. How to time payments around a reset.
Read the guide →Strategy, taxes and pitfalls
Strategies Compared
Monthly extra vs. one payment a year vs. lump sum vs. accelerated bi-weekly — which saves most, and which you'll actually stick with.
Read the guide →Got a Windfall?
Inheritance, bonus or home-sale proceeds — a step-by-step order of operations for a $50,000 lump sum.
Read the guide →The Mortgage Interest Deduction
Why most U.S. homeowners get no tax benefit from mortgage interest since 2018, and what that means for paying down the loan.
Read the guide →Prepayment Mistakes
Draining the emergency fund, skipping the 401(k) match, mis-applied payments, escrow surprises — the costly errors and how to avoid them.
Read the guide →Mortgage Payoff Glossary
Plain-English definitions of the terms that matter when you pay extra — curtailment, recast, escrow, LTV, PMI, QM rule and more.
Read the guide →Other countries (reference)
Our calculator supports these markets; the rules differ from the U.S.
Canada: Prepayment Privileges
Semi-annual compounding, prepayment privilege limits, and how Canadian penalties (three months' interest or IRD) are calculated.
Read the guide →UK: Overpayment Rules
The 10% annual overpayment allowance, Early Repayment Charges, and overpaying without triggering a penalty.
Read the guide →Australia: Extra Repayments & Offset
Redraw facilities, offset accounts, and fixed-rate break costs — how Australian home loans handle extra repayments.
Read the guide →Ready to run the numbers?
Use our free calculator to see exactly how much interest and time you'll save with your own loan details.
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