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Debt Payoff Calculator
See how long it'll actually take to pay off a credit card or loan — and what a minimum payment really costs you.
Time to pay off
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Assumes no new charges are added to the balance and every payment is made on time. Uses the standard amortization formula, the same math credit card issuers use.
The minimum payment trap
How this debt payoff calculator works
This is the mathematical inverse of a standard loan calculator. A loan calculator starts with a term — say, 5 years — and solves for the monthly payment that pays it off exactly on schedule. This tool works backward: you tell it the payment you're actually making, and it solves for how many months that payment will take to clear the balance, using the same underlying amortization math.
One real constraint worth understanding: if your payment is lower than the interest accruing each month, the balance mathematically can never go down — you'd be paying forever without making progress. This calculator catches that case directly and tells you the minimum payment needed just to stop the balance from growing, rather than showing a nonsensical result.
Why the minimum payment box above matters
Card issuers typically set minimum payments low on purpose — often around 2% of your balance or a small flat floor like $25, whichever is larger. That's usually just enough to cover most of the month's interest, meaning very little of a minimum payment actually reduces what you owe. The comparison box above shows this directly: the same balance, paid at the typical minimum, routinely takes years longer and costs multiples more in total interest than a meaningfully larger fixed payment.
Frequently asked questions
Why does it say my payment can never pay off the balance?
This happens when your monthly payment is less than the interest accruing each month — the balance would actually grow, not shrink, no matter how long you paid. You need a payment higher than the monthly interest amount shown in the error for the balance to ever go down.
What is the minimum payment trap?
Credit card minimum payments are typically calculated as a small percentage of your balance (often 2%) or a flat floor like $25, whichever is greater. Paying only the minimum can stretch payoff to a decade or more and multiply the total interest paid many times over compared to a larger fixed payment.
Is this the same math as a loan calculator?
It's the mathematical inverse. A loan calculator starts with a term and solves for the payment; this tool starts with a payment and solves for how long it takes, using the same underlying amortization formula.