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Tools / Debt Paydown Planner
Debt Strategy

Destroy your debt faster

Add your debts, choose a strategy, and see exactly how much interest you'll save and when you'll finally be free. The difference between methods can be thousands of dollars.

🔒 Sign in to save your debt plan and track progress over time.
The Real Cost of High-Interest Debt
29.99% APR vs a 10% Index Fund

Carrying a credit card balance doesn't just hurt — it actively competes with your investing potential. Here's the math.

💸 Credit Card at 29.99% APR
$1,500
lost to interest per year
On a $5,000 balance at 29.99% APR, you're paying $1,500/year in interest — every year you carry it. That's $125/month just to stand still.
📈 Same Money in an Index Fund (10% avg)
+$500
average annual gain
That same $5,000 invested in a broad market index fund earning ~10%/year would grow by $500 in year one — and compound from there.
⚡ Total annual spread: $2,000 — every year you carry this balance instead of paying it off, you're losing $1,500 in interest AND missing $500 in potential gains. Paying off this card first is a guaranteed ~30% return. No index fund can beat that.
Your Debts
$
✓ Saved!
📈 Live Paydown Visualizer
Updates as you type. Select a debt to see its individual paydown curve.
Min-Only Payoff
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Interest (Min Only)
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Aggressive Payoff
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Interest Saved
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⚡ Avalanche Method
Pay highest interest rate first — mathematically optimal
Debt-Free In
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Total Interest Paid
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Payoff Order
❄️ Snowball Method
Pay smallest balance first — fastest psychological wins
Debt-Free In
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Total Interest Paid
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Payoff Order
$0
Interest saved by choosing the better strategy
📉 Balance Over Time
See how quickly each strategy eliminates your debt vs. making only minimum payments. The gap between lines = interest you're saving.
Minimum Payments Only
Avalanche (Highest APR First)
Snowball (Lowest Balance First)
⚡ The Hidden Cost: Investing While In Debt
Many people invest and carry credit card debt at the same time. This chart shows the true net-wealth difference between Strategy A (pay minimums + invest the extra) vs Strategy B (aggressively pay off debt first, then redirect all payments into index funds).
Strategy A: Pay Minimums + Invest $X/mo
Strategy B: Avalanche First, Then Invest Everything
💥 The Payment Cascade (Avalanche Order)

When each debt is paid off, its minimum payment rolls forward to the next — like a snowball picking up speed. Here's exactly how your payments stack.

🚀 What happens after you're debt-free?

Once every debt is paid off, redirect those same monthly payments into a broad index fund. Here's what that money becomes at a conservative 7% average annual return.

After 10 Years
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After 20 Years
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After 30 Years
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* Projections assume your freed-up monthly payments (minimums + extra) invested monthly at 7% annually. For illustrative purposes only — not guaranteed returns.

Why It Matters

The case for paying off debt first

📉
A guaranteed return you can't beat
Paying off a 22% APR credit card is a guaranteed 22% return. No index fund can promise that. Paying down high-interest debt first is literally the best investment you can make.
🔗
Minimum payments are a trap
A $5,000 credit card balance at 22% APR with only minimum payments takes 15+ years and costs over $7,000 in interest. Paying just $50 extra per month cuts that nearly in half.
🧠
Mental load has a real cost
Debt creates constant background stress. Research shows financial stress reduces cognitive performance and sleep quality. Eliminating it frees up mental energy for everything else in your life.
🚀
Debt-free accelerates investing
Once your debts are gone, those minimum payments become investment dollars. A person who pays off $800/mo in debt payments and redirects that into index funds builds wealth remarkably fast.