With a 30-year mortgage, it will normally take you 30 years to pay this off. But if you make biweekly mortgage payments, you will be making what equates to 13 monthly payments each year.
Assuming you pay once a month, you'd pay roughly $139,260 in interest over 30 years. In the same scenario making biweekly payments — or about $540 every two weeks — you'd cut your total interest down to $119,369, saving you more than $19,800. You'd also pay off the loan in 26 years, instead of 30.
Anything over that amount must be directed toward reducing your remaining principal balance. The bi-weekly scheme actually provides a 13th monthly payment each year, and that extra must be aplied to lowering your balance. At today's mortgage rates, bi-weekly payments shorten your loan term by four years.
Making additional principal payments will shorten the length of your mortgage term and allow you to build equity faster. Because your balance is being paid down faster, you'll have fewer total payments to make, in-turn leading to more savings.
Drawbacks to biweekly payments
One drawback to biweekly mortgage payments is that some lenders may charge fees to enroll in their biweekly payment plan. When it comes to fees, you should crunch the numbers to confirm you'll still get ahead financially by paying biweekly.
"Your loan balance accrues interest every day and reducing that principal balance every 14 days (26 half payments per year) saves more in interest charges than one full additional payment every 12 months, even though the total amount in payments every year remains the same."
Okay, you probably already know that every dollar you add to your mortgage payment puts a bigger dent in your principal balance. And that means if you add just one extra payment per year, you'll knock years off the term of your mortgage—not to mention interest savings!
You should aim to have everything paid off, from student loans to credit card debt, by age 45, O'Leary says. “The reason I say 45 is the turning point, or in your 40s, is because think about a career: Most careers start in early 20s and end in the mid-60s,” O'Leary says.
The amount saved will vary based on the initial size of the loan and interest rate. Simply by making an additional payment over the life of a 15-year mortgage for $300,000 dollars at an interest rate of 5%, amounts to an eventual savings of up to 200 dollars monthly.
The Biweekly Payment Option
As with the weekly payments, you will end paying off your mortgage more quickly if you pay every other week. If you make 26 payments of $800, you end up paying $20,800, the same amount you would pay making weekly payments, compared to $19,200 for monthly payments.
Paying Your Mortgage Twice Per Month
Say your mortgage is $2,000 per month. By paying $1,000 twice a month, or 24 times per year, you would make a total of $24,000 in payments – the same as you would if you paid monthly.
In this scenario, an extra principal payment of $100 per month can shorten your mortgage term by nearly 5 years, saving over $25,000 in interest payments. If you're able to make $200 in extra principal payments each month, you could shorten your mortgage term by eight years and save over $43,000 in interest.
Paying off your mortgage early is a good way to free up monthly cashflow and pay less in interest. But you'll lose your mortgage interest tax deduction, and you'd probably earn more by investing instead. Before making your decision, consider how you would use the extra money each month.
If you decide you can't afford your overpayments, you can reduce or stop them at any time and go back to your original monthly mortgage repayment. Paying a lump sum off your mortgage will save you money on interest and help you clear your mortgage faster than if you spread your overpayments over a number of years.
Well, mortgage payments are generally due on the first of the month, every month, until the loan reaches maturity, or until you sell the property. So it doesn't actually matter when your mortgage funds – if you close on the 5th of the month or the 15th, the pesky mortgage is still due on the first.
Bach explains: “By paying half of your monthly payment every two weeks, over the course of a year you will make 26 half-payments — the equivalent of 13 full payments, or one more payment than there are months in a year.” Making more payments means paying your mortgage off sooner, which means paying less in interest.
Generally, national banks will allow you to pay additional funds towards the principal balance of your loan. However, you should review your loan agreement or contact your bank to find out their specific process for doing so.
Is There a Best Time Within the Month to Make an Extra Payment to Principal? Yes, the best time within the month to make an extra payment is the last day on which the lender will credit you for the current month, rather than deferring credit until the following month.
Both a 15-year and 30-year mortgage can have fixed interest rates and fixed monthly payments over the life of the loan. However, a 15-year mortgage means you will have your home paid off in 15 years rather than the full, 30-year mortgage so long as you make the required minimum monthly payments.