MHB Calculate pay off debt with minimum payment only?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Juliayaho
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Debt Minimum
Click For Summary
To calculate how long it will take to pay off a debt of $5,000 at a 6.4% interest rate with a minimum payment of 2%, it will take approximately 58.3 months. The formula involves calculating the monthly interest and using logarithmic functions to determine the number of payments required. If only the minimum payment is made, the total interest paid will accumulate over the remaining balance each month. It's important to note that paying a percentage of the balance may result in never fully paying off the debt. Understanding these calculations can help in managing debt repayment strategies effectively.
Juliayaho
Messages
13
Reaction score
0
How can i calculate how many months it would take me to pay off a debt if I only make the minimum payment?

let say I ow 5000 my interest rate is 6.4% my payment rate is 2% so If i calculate my minimum payment I know it be 100 more or less but I i just pay that minimum how many month it would take me to pay off that debt and how much interest would I end up paying at the end?

what would be a formula to calculate that?
Thanks!
 
Mathematics news on Phys.org
Juliayaho said:
How can i calculate how many months it would take me to pay off a debt if I only make the minimum payment?

let say I ow 5000 my interest rate is 6.4% my payment rate is 2% so If i calculate my minimum payment I know it be 100 more or less but I i just pay that minimum how many month it would take me to pay off that debt and how much interest would I end up paying at the end?

what would be a formula to calculate that?
Thanks!

Hi Juliayaho! :)

I found this thread lying around.
Do you still want help on it?

If you pay 2% per period (is that per month?), it will take 50 periods.

The interest you pay is 6.4% over the original 5000, then 6.4% over the remaining 4900, and so on.
Btw, what is the period you pay 6.4% on? Is it a month? Or a year?
Assuming you pay 6.4% over the same period that make your payments of 2% for, the total interest you pay will be $6.4\% \times (5000 + 4900 + 4800 + ... + 100)$.

This is a so called arithmetic series.
Do you know how to calculate it?
 
Juliayaho said:
let say I ow 5000 my interest rate is 6.4% my payment rate is 2% so If i calculate my minimum payment I know it be 100 more or less but I i just pay that minimum how many month it would take me to pay off that debt and how much interest would I end up paying at the end?

You seem to be saying "if I pay 100 per month constantly":
quote: "I just pay that minimum"

If so, it will take approximately 58.3 months.

u = p / (p−ai)
v = 1 + i
n = LOG(u) / LOG(v)

n = number of payments(?)
p = monthly payment(100)
a = amount originally owing(5000)
i = interest monthly(.064/12)

u = 100/[100−5000(.064/12)]
v = 1+.064/12
n = LOG(u) / LOG(v) = 58.30898...

Note that if instead you pay 2% of the opening month's balance,
then the initial $100 payment will slowly reduce...
but theoretically you will never pay off!
 
Last edited:

Similar threads

  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
2K
Replies
3
Views
2K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
1K
Replies
3
Views
1K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
2K
  • · Replies 11 ·
Replies
11
Views
3K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
2K
Replies
4
Views
2K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
2K
Replies
16
Views
6K