It can be said that most people all over the world have either involved themselves in an amortization process in the past or are doing so right now. As such, it could be termed as the leading financial facility available to the people of the world in current times. Though the word ‘amortization’ may not specifically be used, the act of amortization could be very well going on in your own home right now.

In fact, amortization is the financial term for the very common process of paying off a loan. People take loans for several purposes – homes, cars, education, personal reasons, whatever – and when they set out to pay these loans back to the lenders on equated monthly installments, then it is said to be amortization. So, amortization is the tool with which a borrower is gradually snuffing out the loan till it is owed no more.

Calculating the amount of payments on a mortgage is a very simple task to do. Any borrower could calculate this amount with the slightest amount of mathematical skills. Suppose a home was bought for $150,000 and the person put down a deposit of $20,000. In that case, an amount of $130,000 is still owed. Consider the rate of interest to be 7% and the loan to be borrowed over a thirty year period. In that case, the amount of $130,000 divided by 30 plus the interest at the rate of 7% comes to something like $865. This would be considered to the monthly payment over the period of amortization.

With all amortization payments, the initial payments will have a higher proportion of the interests. However, amortization payments are not interest-only loans with a balloon payment at the end; so they will contain a major part of the interest but a small portion of the principal would also be paid over time. For example, out of the first monthly payment of $865, about $758 would be contributed towards the interest and the remaining $107 would go towards paying off the principal. As the months proceed this equation changes. The interest would become less and less and the amount of the payment towards the principal would go on increasing. Working out the above example further, the two hundredth payment could be something like this: the interest from the total payment of $865 would be about $526 and the principal amount would be $339. At this time, the total owed principal would go down to about $89,806. Hence, in the later years the principal is reduced faster than in the first few years.

In the three hundredth month, the situation would become something like this: out of the total monthly payment of $865, the interest amount would be $258 and the principal amount would be $607. The remainder of the principal owed would fall down to $43,682. In the second last payment, only about $10 will be towards the interest while a huge chunk of the payment – $855 – would go towards the principal. In the last payment, there will be no portion going towards the interest amount at all.

So the above example amply illustrates how the monthly payment works towards decreasing the principal and providing for the interest over time. While amortization, the person would begin by paying off the interests and end by paying off the principal amount.

Even after this, several people could find it difficult to calculate the numbers pertaining to amortization. But there is no need to fear on that count too. There are a lot of free amortization calculators available on several websites. It is better to calculate the amounts of payments on the loans beforehand so that the family is in a better position to calculate the monthly budget. To get a more concrete idea, there are accountant available who could calculate these figures precisely for you and even provide guidelines on how to save on money by tax deductions.