Refinancing – don’t make just the minimum payment

You’ve heard the ads: refinance now and save hundreds, even thousands, of dollars a year.

And it’s true. Let’s take as an example somebody who took out a $300,000 mortgage in the summer of 2009 at 5%. Principal and Interest (P&I) payments would be $1,610 per month. Suppose she now refis at 3.75% with no costs. The monthly payment would drop to $1,315, a saving of $295 per month, over $3,500 a year. Yippee!

The reason my website includes a mortgage calculator that shows the amortization table is to demonstrate just how expensive it is to borrow money over 30 years. It is rather like paying only the minimum on a credit card. In fact, a 30 year mortgage pays down just 3% of the principal in the first year. (more…)