15 / 20 / 30-Year Mortgage Term Comparison

finance

Module

01 Loan size

One principal amount amortized under all three terms. Principal & interest only — taxes, insurance, PMI and fees are not included.

$
$
Principal$0.00
Loan-to-value—

02 Annual fixed rates

One annual rate per term, editable. Shorter terms normally price below the 30-year — the rack flags any upside-down spread.

%
%
%

03 Head-to-head

Full-life totals for each term. The 30-year column is the baseline everything is measured against.

Metric 15-year 20-year 30-year
Annual rate —
180 months
—
240 months
—
360 months
Monthly payment (P&I) — — —
Total payments — — —
Total interest paid — — —
Interest as share of loan — — —
Extra vs 30-year (monthly) — — —
Total interest saved vs 30-year — — —

04 The true-cost trade-off

Payments are only half the story. The question is what a shorter term's extra monthly dollars buy in avoided interest — and whether you must commit to the shorter note to capture it.

15-year vs 30-yearbaseline
Extra payment vs 30-year—
Total interest saved—
Per extra $1/mo · interest avoided—
Pay-off with the 15-yr payment...on the 30-year note—
Effective interest that route—
20-year vs 30-yearbaseline
Extra payment vs 30-year—
Total interest saved—
Per extra $1/mo · interest avoided—
Pay-off with the 20-yr payment...on the 30-year note—
Effective interest that route—