The maturity date for a personal loan is the date on which you’ll be finished paying off your loan. It’s important to mark this day on your calendar, not only to celebrate successfully paying back your debt, but also because it can tell you important information like how much you’ll ultimately end up paying in interest.
Here’s a look at how to figure out the maturity date for your personal loan, and other important loan terms you should know.
What Is the Loan Maturity Date?
The term “maturity date” can refer to loans or investments. In investing, it refers to the day on which you’ll receive the money you invested, for example, in a savings bond or certificate of deposit. You’ll get your investment back, plus any remaining interest that’s due to you.
If you’re a borrower, the maturity date of a loan is the day your lender has scheduled for your loaned funds and any interest to be paid off in full. In the case of a mortgage, you may be given the option to refinance your loan at this point. Otherwise, with the loan paid off, you will no longer owe any interest to your lender.
If, for whatever reason, you still have a balance after your loan maturity date, talk to your lender and work out a plan to pay off the remainder of your loan.
Recommended: What Is a Personal Loan?
How Does the Loan Maturity Date Work?
Your loan’s maturity date is a part of your initial personal loan agreement. You can find it on your loan contract. For example, say you take out a $10,000 personal loan on July 1, 2022 with a 36-month term. The loan maturity date will be 36 months later, on July 1, 2025.
It is possible to pay off your loan early before the loan maturity. This can save you money in interest payments. However, be mindful whether your lender charges prepayment penalties. These penalties can outweigh the advantages of paying off your loan early.
Length of a Personal Loan Maturity Date
A loan term is the amount of time you’ll have to pay it off before you reach the maturity date, usually calculated in months. You can often find personal loans with terms from 12 to 60 months, and some lenders will offer loans with terms of up to seven years or longer.
The longer your term, the longer you’ll be paying interest, which makes these longer-term loans more expensive for borrowers. When choosing a loan, you may want to consider one with the shortest term possible, as long as you can comfortably afford the monthly payments.
Calculating Your Loan Maturity Value
Knowing your loan maturity date is necessary when calculating how much you’ll eventually end up paying your lender in interest. The maturity value formula is:
V = P x (1 + r)^n
Where P is the principal amount of a personal loan, r is the interest rate per period of the loan, and n is the number of times interest will compound between the beginning of the loan and the loan’s maturity date.
For example, say you take out a $10,000 personal loan with a 36 month term and 9% interest rate. Is this case P = 10,000, r = 8%, and if interest is calculated annually, n = 3. The equation would look like:
V = 10,000 x (1 + 9%)^3
In this case, V = $12,950.29.
When you subtract the $10,000 principal amount, you’ll find that with this loan, you’ll end up paying $2,950.29 in interest.
What Happens at the Personal Loan Maturity Date?
As mentioned above, at the personal loan maturity date, you ideally will have paid off all of your loan principal and whatever interest you owe. You should be able to do this handily if you make all of your loan payments on time.
However, this may not be possible if you’ve fallen on hard financial times. If you think you’ll have trouble making a payment on time, reach out to your lender immediately and see if there’s anything they can do to help. They may allow you to pay at a later date.
Other Important Information on the Personal Loan Agreement
In addition to maturity, you’ll find other useful information on your personal loan agreement.
Loan Principal
Your loan principal is the initial amount of money that you borrow, and it is the amount you agree to pay back with interest. So if you take out a $30,000 personal loan, the loan principal is $30,000.
The amount of interest that you pay will be determined by the principal. When you make a payment each month, the payment amount will first pay down whatever interest you’ve accrued, and then it will be applied to the principal. As your principal amount shrinks, so too will the size of your interest payment.
Loan Interest Rates
The interest rate is the amount that your lender charges you to borrow, and it’s the main way that lenders make money. Most personal loans rates are fixed interest rates, meaning the rate will not change over the life of the loan. The average personal loan interest rate is 9.41%, according to the St. Louis Federal Reserve. But rates will vary depending on your credit score.
Variable rate loans, on the other hand, carry interest rates that are usually pegged to a market interest rate. As a result, they can change over the life of the loan.
There may also be hybrid situations in which a loan starts with a fixed interest rate for a period of time, after which it switches to a variable rate. If market rates have gone down, this can be a good thing for borrowers. But if they’ve gone up, a variable-rate loan could be more expensive than its fixed-rate counterpart.
Monthly Loan Payments
You’ll be able to find the amount you owe each month on your personal loan agreement. Your loan payment should be the same over the course of your loan unless you have a variable interest rate.
The Takeaway
Knowing your personal loan maturity date is useful to help you plan your financial future. It can help you determine how much a personal loan will cost you over time, which is especially important when comparing loans of varying terms and interest rates from different lenders.
As you shop for personal loans, consider loans from SoFi, which offers low fixed rates on loans from $5,000 to $100,000 for those who qualify. SoFi loans also carry no additional fees, including origination fees and prepayment penalties.
FAQ
What happens if the loan is not paid by the maturity date?
If your loan is not paid by the maturity date, work with your lender to come up with a repayment plan. If your loan payment is late or in default, you may face penalties and your credit score may suffer.
What is the maturity date on a loan?
The maturity date on a loan is the date by which a borrower has agreed to pay off the loan principal and interest.
When is the maturity date on a loan?
Loan maturity dates will vary depending on loan term. Most personal loans carry terms of 12 to 60 months or more.
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