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Refinancing

Should I Refinance to a 15-Year Mortgage?

By Beverly · Oct 1, 2026 · 1 min read

Free calculators for everyone — the 5–7 Year Alternative serves USA residents only.

Refinancing from a 30-year to a 15-year mortgage is the single fastest conventional way to kill a loan. It's also the one with the biggest strings attached. Let's look at both sides honestly.

The upside is enormous

On a $500,000 balance, refinancing to a 15-year at 6.25% wipes out roughly $425,900 in lifetime interest versus riding the 30-year to the end. The loan is simply gone in half the time.

The payment shock is real

That same refinance pushes the monthly principal-and-interest payment from about $3,327 to about $4,287 — nearly $1,000 more every month, for 15 years. If your budget has that room comfortably, great. If it doesn't, you've traded flexibility for speed, and that's a risky trade.

The costs calculators hide

Most refinance illustrations — including ours — exclude closing costs. Real refinances carry origination fees, appraisal, title, and prepaid items that routinely total thousands of dollars. Always ask for the break-even point: how many months until the interest savings repay what you paid to refinance?

The bottom line

A 15-year refinance makes sense when three things are true: the rate is meaningfully better, you can absorb the higher payment without strain, and you'll stay in the home past the break-even point. Miss any one of those and extra principal payments on your current loan may serve you better.

Compare the refinance against every other strategy on your loan in our 15-year refinance calculator — or see if you qualify for an alternative that targets payoff in 5–7 years.

Calculations are illustrative only, based on the assumptions shown. Not financial advice, not a promise of savings or payoff time, and not a loan quote.