Loan Payment Chart Generator

This Loan Payment Chart Calculator generates charts that may be used to compare loans at various interest rates, fees, and loan terms. The calculator can generate charts that compare monthly payments, total payments, and total interest paid over the lifetime of the loan. It can generate either absolute dollar amounts or a relative comparison with a standard ten year term (i.e., showing the percentage or dollar amount of change).

Loan fees are used to adjust the initial loan balance so that the borrower nets the same amount after the fees are deducted.

The charts display these figures for a range of interest rates, fees and loan terms. Loan terms used in the charge include standard 10-year repayment as well as 12, 15, 20, 25 and 30 year terms. The range of interest rates and fees, however, can be customized. The chart generator assumes standard level payment loan amortization with no minimum monthly payment.

These charts can be used to illustrate that a 30-year term reduces the monthly loan payment by 49.4%, as compared with a standard 10-year term, but increases the total interest paid by as much as 268.6%, depending on the interest rate and fees.

Instructions

The loan balance is the amount borrowed.

There are three fields for interest rates and three fields for loan fees. These fields specify the starting rate/fee (labeled as "Minimum"), the ending rate/fee (labeled as "Maximum"), and the interval between values (labeled as "Increment"). For example, if you specify a minimum rate of 5%, a maximum rate of 10%, and a rate increment of 1%, the interest rates displayed by the chart will include 5%, 6%, 7%, 8%, 9% and 10%.

In addition to the three fields for rates, there is a separate question that adds in certain special interest rates, namely the rates that apply to Stafford and PLUS loans. This allows you to display these rates even if the increment you chose skips over them.

The display field specifies the type of information to be displayed, namely either monthly payments, total payments, or total interest paid over the lifetime of the loan.

The comparison field specifies whether absolute dollar amounts or the relative change are displayed. In the latter case, the dollar amounts are compared with the similar amounts for a standard 10-year repayment term, and either the percentage or the dollar amount of change reported instead.

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