Credit Card Payoff Calculator Instructions

Purpose of this tool

This tool is intended to help you determine how long it will take you to pay off your credit cards using various payment options. These options include making only the Federally-mandated 4% of the outstanding balance, making a consistent fixed payment, or a combination of the two for different credit cards.

Disclaimer

This tool is only a guide. This tool cannot guarantee that you will pay off any debt(s) in the time shown due to numerous factors including, but not limited to, continued use of the credit card, additional fees and charges, and changes in interest rates.

Individual circumstances vary. You are strongly advised to seek the help of a financial professional (such as a Certified Public Accountant, Certified Financial Planner, or tax attorney) to review your particular financial circumstances.

How to use this tool

For each credit card (up to a maximum of 8) enter the following information:

The current balance on the credit card, in whole dollars, in the column labeled "$ Balance"
The annual interest rate on the card, if any, in the column labeled "Annual % Rate". You may enter a value with up to 3 decimal places. Example: 18.500
The payment amount, in whole dollars, you wish to pay, in the column labeled "$ Payment"

Minimum Payment Option

The Minimum Payment Option is used to calculate the payoff time based on paying only the "Minimum Monthly Payment" of a credit card. The "Minimum Monthly Payment" of a credit card is currently set at 4% of the current balance of a credit card. The 4% rate is set by the Federal government.

When this option is used, To use the "Minimum Payment, the program will calculate a payment of 4% of the remaining balance of the card, or $10.00 (whichever is greatest), and apply this "minimum payment" to the credit card.

If you would like to use this "Minimum Payment" option for a credit card, click the checkbox in the row for that credit card. When selected, the program locks and changes the color of the payment box, and calculates a 4% payment based on the value of the "$ Balance" box. To turn the "Minimum Payment" option off, simply uncheck the checkbox.

Results

When you click the "Calculate Payoff Time" button, the program will take the data you have entered and determine how long it will take to payoff your credit cards, along with the total amount of interest paid.

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