Missing Term Loan Calculator to Calculate Unknown Principal, Rate, Number of Payments, or Payment Amount

Missing Loan Term Calculator Sign

If you know any 3 of the following 4 loan terms, this calculator will use Time Value of Money (TVM) calculations to find the missing term.

  1. Principal
  2. Interest rate
  3. Monthly payment
  4. Number of payments remaining

The most common use for this calculator is to calculate a loan payoff amount. After all, you usually know the interest rate, the number of payments remaining, and the monthly payment. What's not always clear is how much money it will take to pay off a loan this month.

That's because the payoff amount cannot be arrived at by simply multiplying the monthly payment amount by the number of payments remaining since future payments include interest charges that will not apply if the loan is paid off early.

Note that if you would like the option to create and print a schedule of payments, please visit the Free Loan Amortization Calculator , which also solves for an unknown variable.

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Missing Loan Term Calculator

Calculate a missing loan term from any three known variables.

Special Instructions

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Selected Data Record:

A Data Record is a set of calculator entries that are stored in your web browser's Local Storage. If a Data Record is currently selected in the "Data" tab, this line will list the name you gave to that data record. If no data record is selected, or you have no entries stored for this calculator, the line will display "None".

DataData recordData recordSelected data record: None
Balance:Principal amt:Principal or current payoff:Principal or current payoff amount:

Principal or current payoff amount:

If known, enter principal balance or current payoff amount, without the dollar sign or any commas. Otherwise leave blank and complete the other three fields.

$
Interest rate:Interest rate:Interest rate:Annual interest rate:

Annual interest rate:

If known, enter the interest rate expressed as a percentage, but without the percent sign (for 6.5%, enter 6.5).

If the interest rate is not known, to save the calculator from making unnecessary iterations, please select your best guess from the drop down menu (default guess is 10%) and the calculator will attempt to calculate the rate for you given the other three loan terms.

%
# pmts:# pmts left:Number of payments left:Number of payments remaining:

Number of payments remaining:

If known, enter the number of payments remaining on the loan. Otherwise, leave blank and complete the other three fields.

#
Pmt:Payment amt:Monthly payment amount:Monthly payment amount:

Monthly payment amount:

If known, enter the monthly payment amount, without the dollar sign or any commas. Otherwise, leave blank and complete the other three fields.

$
Missing term:

Missing loan term:

This row will state the the title of the missing term that has been calculated, with the amount of the missing term located in the right-hand column.

Total years:Total years:Total years remaining:Total years remaining:

Total years remaining:

This result is the number of monthly payments remaining converted into the number of years remaining.

Total pmts:Total payments:Total of payments remaining:Total of payments remaining:

Total of payments remaining:

This result is the total of all payments between now and when the loan is paid off.

Total interest:Total interest:Total interest remaining:Total interest remaining:

Total interest remaining:

This result is the total interest that will be paid between now and when the loan is paid off.

If you would like to save the current entries to the secure online database, tap or click on the Data tab, select "New Data Record", give the data record a name, then tap or click the Save button. To save changes to previously saved entries, simply tap the Save button. Please select and "Clear" any data records you no longer need.

Help and Tools

Learn

The lender's best kept secret.

The Ultimate Missing Loan Term

Even if you know the principal, interest rate, number of payments, and the monthly payment amount, there is one more loan term that is always "missing" from a lender's loan agreement.

What is the missing term?

It's called forgone potential future value.

What is Forgone Potential Future Value?

Forgone potential future value is what you will give up when you pay interest to a lending institution rather than invest that money into an investment that will earn interest.

Of course, the amount of potential future value you give up depends on the investment's interest rate and on how long you leave the investment to grow.

So before you sign the loan papers, be sure to solve for the ultimate missing loan term like this:

  1. Visit the Time Value of Money Calculator.
  2. Enter the total interest cost of the loan.
  3. Enter number of years between now and your life expectancy
  4. Let the calculator show you how much potential future value you will be giving up.

Finally, carefully weigh what you are getting in return for the interest charges (nothing!) versus the potential future value you are giving up.

Back to CalculatorBack to CalculatorBack to Missing Loan Term CalculatorBack up to Missing Loan Term Calculator

Adjust Calculator Width:

Move the slider to left and right to adjust the calculator width. Note that the Help and Tools panel will be hidden when the calculator is too wide to fit both on the screen. Moving the slider to the left will bring the instructions and tools panel back into view.

Also note that some calculators will reformat to accommodate the screen size as you make the calculator wider or narrower. If the calculator is narrow, columns of entry rows will be converted to a vertical entry form, whereas a wider calculator will display columns of entry rows, and the entry fields will be smaller in size ... since they will not need to be "thumb friendly".

Show/Hide Popup Keypads:

Select Show or Hide to show or hide the popup keypad icons located next to numeric entry fields. These are generally only needed for mobile devices that don't have decimal points in their numeric keypads. So if you are on a desktop, you may find the calculator to be more user-friendly and less cluttered without them.

Stick/Unstick Tools:

Select Stick or Unstick to stick or unstick the help and tools panel. Selecting "Stick" will keep the panel in view while scrolling the calculator vertically. If you find that annoying, select "Unstick" to keep the panel in a stationary position.

If the tools panel becomes "Unstuck" on its own, try clicking "Unstick" and then "Stick" to re-stick the panel.