


Bankrate logo Bankrate 9/16/2020 Zach Wichter
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There are several ways to prepay a mortgage:

  • Make an extra mortgage payment every year
  • Add extra dollars to every payment
  • Apply a lump sum after an inheritance or other windfall
  • Some combination of the above

How much can I save paying additional principal on a mortgage?

The benefit of paying additional principal on a mortgage isn't just in reducing the monthly interest expense a tiny bit at a time. It comes from paying down your outstanding loan balance with additional mortgage principal payments, which slashes the total interest you'll owe over the life of the loan.

Here's an example of how prepaying saves money and time:

Kaylyn takes out a $120,000 mortgage at a 4.5 percent interest rate. The monthly mortgage principal and interest total $608.02. Here's what happens when Kaylyn makes extra mortgage payments:

Payment methodPay off loan in…Total interestTotal interest saved
*Extra $608.02 payment
Minimum every month30 years$98,888$0
13 payments a year*25 years, 9 months$82,870$16,018
$100 extra every month22 years, 6 months$70,944$27,944
$50 extra every month25 years, 8 months$82,452$16,436
$25 extra every month27 years, 8 months$89,864$9,024

Bankrate's mortgage amortization schedule calculator can help you determine the impact of extra payments on your mortgage. Click "Show amortization schedule" to reveal the section that lets you calculate the effect of additional payments.

What are the drawbacks of prepaying my mortgage?

There are potential downsides to prepaying. For starters, tying up your cash in your home means you have less liquidity and wiggle room in your budget. In other words, you'll have less readily available cash to put toward increasing your 401(k) contributions or paying down high-interest debt, for example. These financial goals could offer a higher return on your investment.

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Another consideration is the opportunity cost of not having that extra money invested elsewhere. Over the past four decades, the stock market has returned an average of 10 percent a year. For the broad bond markets, the average annual gain has been close to 8 percent.

When asking yourself, "Can I prepay my mortgage?" look at your entire financial picture. Here are some important questions to consider:

  • Is your monthly budget tight after meeting necessary expenses?
  • Is your income variable and/or unpredictable?
  • How long do you plan to stay in your home?
  • Are you saving enough for retirement?


Do these things before prepaying your mortgage

Prepaying your mortgage is a great goal to work toward but before you do, make sure you've met these financial milestones first:

  • Get the match. If you're not getting the full company match from a workplace retirement plan, you're passing up an instant return. The typical company match equals 50 to 100 percent of your contribution - up to a limit (often up to 3 to 6 percent of your income). That's where extra money should go first until you're on track for retirement. Retirement plan contributions get a tax break and the more time your money has to grow, the better.
  • Pay off your higher-rate debt. It doesn't make sense to pay off a 4 percent mortgage if you have credit cards accruing at 16 percent or more.
  • Plan for emergencies. A savings account with at least three to six months' worth of expenses can help you weather most setbacks.
  • Protect yourself. You should be adequately insured, which for most people means having property, health and disability policies. If you have financial dependents, you'll probably want life insurance, as well.

Once those bases are covered, prepaying a mortgage comes down to discipline and comfort level. Do you want to be completely debt-free? Or would you prefer your money working harder for you in other ways? Ideally, you want to pay off your mortgage before retirement so you don't have those monthly payments to worry about if your income becomes more limited.

Take a DIY approach to prepaying your mortgage

Let's say you want to budget an extra amount each month to prepay your principal. One tactic is to make one extra mortgage principal and interest payment per year. You could simply make a double payment during the month of your choosing or add one-twelfth of a principal and interest payment to each month's payment. A year later, you will have made 13 payments.


If you don't specify that the extra payments should go toward the mortgage principal, the extra money will go toward your next monthly mortgage payment, which won't help you achieve your goal of prepaying your mortgage.

Once you have built sufficient equity in your home (at least 20 percent), ask your lender to remove private mortgage insurance, or PMI. Paying down your mortgage principal at a faster rate helps eliminate PMI payments more quickly, which also saves you money in the long run.

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