Loan Calculators

Assisting Your College Planning

It's simple to use and the report provides a concise summary of the repayment plans and projected total costs. However, for the more analytical types, you might be left wanting something a bit more detailed. Repayment plan projections include the following: Standard, Graduated, Extended Fixed, Extended Graduated, REPAYE, PAYE, IBR, IBR

for New Borrowers, and ICR.

One word of advice for borrowers with Federal loans, be sure to evaluate the cost of your income-driven repayment plan choices before opting to refinance. After refinancing, access to the more flexible Federal programs are gone forever. However, borrowers with private loans should strongly consider refinancing their debt because the chances are good that you can lower your interest rate. At the end of the day, Student Loan Hero is a great place to start if you are dead set on refinancing because they also provide links to the top 6 lenders. 

It's free to use and is a great source for running various repayment scenarios and projections. However, the amount of detail required to do a a meaningful comparison requires a borrower to be knowledgeable about student loans. In other words, this calculator is for the DIY type that knows what they are doing.

One way to find out if homeownership is within budget is running the numbers. Zillow has a great mortgage calculator. It goes beyond just showing what you would pay in terms of principal and interest. Meaning their calculator also factors in property taxes, PMI, homeowners insurance, and HOA dues - all the stuff that matters. Additionally, they have other resources like an affordability calculator, VA mortgage calculator, refinance calculator, and debt-to-income calculator.