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Educational calculators

Plot the payment before you borrow.

Loan and mortgage payments, savings and retirement projections, and tax estimators. You type the numbers. The page applies the formula documented in the editorial policy. No account, no offer, no advice tailored to you.

Mortgage payment calculatorPrincipal and interest on a fixed-rate mortgage, plus the month-by-month schedule.$1,199.10 a month on $200,000 at 6% for 30 years15-year vs 30-year mortgageThe same loan amount run through a 15-year term and a 30-year term.$1,199.10 versus $1,687.71 at the same 6% rateAuto loan calculatorPrice, down payment, trade-in, and sales tax, then the fixed-rate payment.Price, tax, and trade-in, then the paymentLoan payoff calculatorHow many months a payment takes, and the time and interest an extra principal payment saves.An extra $200.00 cuts 108 months on the checked 30-year loanRefinance break-even calculatorMonths for a lower principal-and-interest payment to cover the closing costs you enter.$2,500.00 of example costs covered in 20 monthsCompound interest calculatorA starting amount plus a monthly contribution, compounded monthly at a rate you choose.$10,000.00 at 5% for 10 years ends at $16,470.09Retirement savings calculatorAn educational projection using 2026 IRS deferral limits and a return you type in.2026 elective deferral cap of $24,500.00, return is yours to typePaycheck calculator2026 federal brackets, the basic standard deduction, and employee FICA. Most state tax is excluded.Single filer, $60,000.00 wages, take-home $50,390.00 before state taxMortgage affordabilityHousing share and debt-to-income, with the CFPB toolkit's 28 percent figure as a benchmark.The CFPB toolkit's 28 percent of gross income, as a benchmarkRent vs buyCash spent on rent over a stay, next to owning costs minus the equity that would be left.Rent checks versus owning costs, after the equity you typeHELOC payment calculatorAn interest-only draw payment, then the fixed payment that would repay the balance.$10,000 at 6% interest-only is $50 a monthCredit card payoffMonths and interest for a fixed monthly payment, checked against a CFPB worksheet.The CFPB's $300 balance at 23% with a $15 paymentStudent loan calculatorA fixed payment using the 2026-27 Direct Loan rates and a 10-year standard term.$10,000 at the 6.52% 2026–27 undergraduate rateSavings goal calculatorThe month-end deposit that reaches a balance at a rate you choose.The deposit that reaches the compound-interest exampleTraditional vs RothAn educational after-tax comparison. The return and both tax rates are yours to type.Equal out-of-pocket dollars, rates you typeInflation and purchasing powerWhat a dollar buys later if prices rise at a yearly rate you type.$100 at 2% for 10 years has $82.03 of today's buying powerMarginal vs effective tax rateThe 2026 bracket on the last dollar, the next dollar, and the effective rate.$50,400 single taxable income is still the 12% bracketDown payment and PMILoan-to-value, the 20 percent conventional line, and the 80 and 78 percent balances.Under 20% down is the CFPB's conventional PMI lineAPR vs APYRegulation DD's annual percentage yield from the interest a deposit actually earned.$61.68 of interest on $1,000 for a year is a 6.17% APYSelf-employment taxSchedule SE on net profit: 92.35 percent, then Social Security and Medicare, using the 2026 wage base.$100,000 of profit produces $14,129.55 of self-employment taxCapital gains tax2026 federal long-term rates of 0, 15, and 20 percent, stacked on ordinary taxable income.2026 single zero-rate amount is $49,450 of taxable incomeRoth IRA contribution limitThe 2026 dollar limit and the IRS phase-out for the modified AGI you type.2026 Roth IRA limit is $7,500 before any phase-outRequired minimum distributionPrior year-end balance divided by the IRS Uniform Lifetime table.$100,000 at age 75 is an RMD of $4,065Social Security break-evenThe statutory early-claim reduction and delayed credit, then the month the higher benefit catches up.Sixty months early cuts a benefit by 30 percentDebt snowball vs avalancheThe same extra payment, sent first to the smallest balance or to the highest rate.Smallest balance, or highest rate, gets the extra paymentEmergency fundMonths of essential spending. The month count is yours; the CFPB says the amount depends.$2,400 of essentials for 3 months is $7,200529 college savingsA monthly projection, with the 2026 gift-tax annual exclusion of $19,000 shown beside it.2026 gift-tax annual exclusion is $19,000ARM vs fixed mortgageA fixed payment beside an adjustable loan that resets at a rate you type.The fixed side uses the checked $1,199.10 payment

What the number is

A fully amortizing fixed-rate payment is the monthly amount that, if paid every month at an unchanged rate, brings the balance to zero at the end of the term. The formula is the one behind a spreadsheet's PMT function: payment equals principal times the monthly rate, divided by one minus (1 + monthly rate) to the power of minus the number of months.

On a mortgage, that figure is principal and interest only. Property taxes, homeowners insurance, and mortgage insurance are separate. On an auto loan, the principal itself depends on price, cash down, trade-in, tax, and fees. The payoff page starts from a payment and counts months. The refinance page divides closing costs by the payment difference. Compound interest and the retirement projection grow a balance at a rate you type, and the retirement page caps deferrals with the 2026 IRS limits. The paycheck page uses the 2026 federal rate tables, the basic standard deduction, and employee FICA, and it leaves most state income tax out. Each calculator page says which of those pieces it includes. Later pages estimate self-employment tax, capital gains, Roth contribution limits, required distributions, Social Security factors, and the other topics named on the card.

The method, the rounding rules, and the correction address are on the editorial policy. The limit of what these pages can tell you is on the disclaimer.

Questions

Is this financial advice?

No. Pennyplotter shows the arithmetic for numbers you type, using the formula on that page. It does not know your credit, your tax return, or which loan, contribution, or filing choice to make.

Do you store the numbers I enter?

The calculator runs in your browser. This site has no account and no form that sends the numbers you type to a Pennyplotter server.

Why might a lender's quote differ?

A quote can include taxes, insurance, mortgage insurance, fees, or a different rounding method. On a mortgage, the APR on a Loan Estimate is a broader cost measure than the note rate this formula uses.