Mortgage Pay Off vs Invest Calculator

How This Calculator Works

Basic mortgage calculators show interest savings from paying off your loan early. But they ignore what you could earn by investing that money instead. Further, this gets even more complex when you factor in if you can get tax savings in certain scenarios. This calculator compares both paths side-by-side, showing which one maximizes your net worth by your FIRE date.

Enter Your Personal Financial Profile:

1. Your FIRE Timeline When do you plan to achieve Financial Independence and Retire Early? This is your target date for comparison.
2. Mortgage Details Your remaining balance and interest rate—the two factors that determine your total interest costs.
3. Expected Investment Returns Your realistic stock market return assumption (historical average is 10% annually, but you can customize based on your risk tolerance and market outlook).
4. Tax Considerations We factor in mortgage interest deductions and investment tax implications to show your true after-tax wealth.

The Analysis: We run two parallel scenarios from today until your FIRE date:

1. Pay Off Mortgage Early: Extra payments reduce your balance, eliminating interest and freeing up cash flow sooner
2. Invest Instead: Extra money goes into investments, compounding over time in the market

The Result: A clear answer showing which strategy puts more money in your pocket when you’re ready to retire early, plus the dollar difference between approaches.

Disclaimer and Important Note: 

This mortgage vs invest calculator is still very new to our site – please report any bugs, issues with the logic, or suggestions for improvement to Scott@biggerpocketsmoney.com. Thanks so much!