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Why a high rate still needs its minimum
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This guide
Every row keeps its minimum. The extra is shared. A high rate does not automatically receive the whole extra.
The minimum is required in the model
The calculator assumes you pay at least the minimum on each debt that has a balance. Skipping one to attack another is a different plan, and you would show it by changing the minimums yourself.
A high rate with a tiny minimum gets a tiny share of the extra. It may stay expensive for a long time. That is what this split does, and the date will show it.
How to aim at the high rate
Increase that row’s payment by the dollars you want to send it. Set the extra field to zero so the other rows are not also increased.
The interest on that row will fall because its own payment rose. The other dates stay on their original minimums.
Read the warning
If even the aimed payment does not clear the interest, there is still no payoff date. The rate and the balance set a floor the payment has to beat.
The floor is one month of interest. Anything above it eventually finishes, within the 600-month cap.
This explains how WiseCalculator treats the numbers you type. It is not a lender’s offer and it is not advice for your loan.
More in Debt
- Adding a second cardEach card is a row. The debt total becomes the sum of the minimums, and any extra is shared across all of them.
- Removing a paid-off debtSet the balance to zero or delete the row. A zero balance leaves the month. Deleting the row removes it from the form.
- Debts inside the household monthThe debt slice is the sum of minimums plus extra, for every row with a balance. It sits beside housing and the car.