About the Credit Card Payoff Calculator
Credit card minimum payments are notoriously deceptive — because they're often calculated as a small percentage of the balance, paying only the minimum can stretch payoff time to years or even decades, with the majority of what you pay going toward interest rather than the original balance.
This calculator shows what happens when you commit to a fixed monthly payment instead of a shrinking minimum, projecting the actual payoff timeline and total interest cost — often revealing just how much a modest increase in monthly payment can shorten the payoff period.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does the calculator say I'll "never" pay off my balance?
This happens when your monthly payment doesn't exceed the interest accruing that month — the balance stays flat or grows instead of shrinking. You'd need to increase your payment above the interest-only threshold shown to make actual progress.
How much difference does increasing my payment actually make?
Often a dramatic one — on a high-APR balance, increasing a monthly payment by even $50-100 can cut years off the payoff timeline and save hundreds or thousands of dollars in interest, due to how compounding works against you on revolving debt.
Should I pay off credit cards before investing?
Many financial advisors suggest prioritizing high-interest debt (often anything above 7-8%) before investing, since guaranteed "returns" from avoiding that interest rate typically exceed likely investment returns — though this is a personal finance decision that depends on individual circumstances.