A lower rate is not the whole answer — closing costs and a restarted clock matter. This works out your monthly saving, the month you break even, and what you save over the whole loan. Nothing leaves your browser.
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Restarting a fresh 30-year clock is what makes many refinances look cheaper than they are. Holding your remaining term is the honest comparison.
A longer term lowers the payment but can add years of interest. Jump the new term to:
Test buying points to lower the rate. Rule of thumb used here: one point costs 1% of the loan and buys about a 0.25% lower rate — your lender’s pricing may differ.
Borrow extra against your equity and see the new payment.
Estimate only — not a loan offer or financial advice. Payments cover principal and interest only, not taxes, insurance or HOA dues. The points rule of thumb (about 0.25% off the rate per point) is a market convention, not a guarantee; get your lender’s Loan Estimate for real figures. Last updated October 2026.
Find your monthly saving, break-even point and lifetime interest before you refinance — closing costs, points and cash-out included.
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Compare the mortgage you have with the one you are offered: the new payment, the monthly saving, the month the closing costs are earned back, and the interest over the life of both loans — with points and cash-out handled honestly.
A $240,000 balance at 6.8% with 27 years left costs $1,619.59 a month. Refinance to 5.9% over 30 years and the payment falls to $1,423.53 — a saving of $196.06 a month. With $4,500 of closing costs you break even in month 23. Lifetime interest saved is $12,278, and over an 8-year stay the net saving is about $14,322.
Both loans are amortised month by month on the same engine as the Mortgage Calculator. The monthly saving is the old payment minus the new one; the break-even point is the first month where the accumulated saving covers the upfront costs, tracked on the actual payment streams — so it stays correct when the new term is shorter than the time left on the old loan. Points are priced the standard way: each point costs 1% of the amount borrowed and is assumed to buy about a 0.25% lower rate. The lifetime view totals every payment on both loans plus the upfront costs, which is where a restarted 30-year clock shows its real price.
The month where what you have saved on payments finally covers what the refinance cost you. $4,500 of costs against a $196 monthly saving breaks even in month 23. Move or refinance again before that month and the deal lost you money, whatever the rate looked like.
Because the clock restarts. Stretching 27 remaining years into a fresh 30-year loan means three extra years of payments; the interest on those years can eat the rate saving whole. The lifetime cost tab totals both loans honestly, and the same-term table shows the new rate over your remaining term — often the best deal of the three.
Rolling them in means nothing to pay upfront and break-even is immediate — but you then pay interest on the costs for the whole term, which quietly raises the true price. Paying upfront costs less in total whenever you can afford it and will stay past break-even.
A point costs 1% of the loan and typically buys about 0.25% off the rate. Whether it pays depends entirely on how long you keep the loan: points are a bet that you will stay put long enough for the lower payment to earn the fee back. The points card shows the new break-even with points included, so the bet is priced before you take it.
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