Welcome to Ask Clark, a column designed to answer your financial questions, by money expert Clark Howard.
How Can I Keep Track of My Mortgage Payments?
Nick from Virginia asks: “You always advise to keep track of your mortgage payments, especially when the mortgage is sold. What is the best way to keep track of my payment? Should I just keep every single mortgage statement over 15 or 30 years?”
Clark’s Take on How To Keep Track of Your Mortgage Payments
Clark says: “You print out a mortgage amortization schedule. You can go on Google or any other search engine.”
1. Search for ‘Mortgage Amortization Schedule’ Online
You can go to Google or your search engine of choice and type in “mortgage amortization schedule.”
“All these free ones will pop up,” Clark says. “You’ll put in the date your mortgage originated, your interest rate, the loan term and the amount of the loan.”
2. Print It Out
Once you have a paper copy of your mortgage amortization schedule, Clark says, “You’ll be able to see month by month over the years what your current balance is supposed to be.”
3. Compare the Schedule to Your Monthly Statement
“When your monthly statement comes in from the mortgage lender, just reference the balance showing on it vs. what it shows on the amortization schedule you printed out. And if it matches up, you’re good: You can throw it away. You don’t need it,” Clark says.
“You’ll know right away by doing that check once a month whether the lender is properly crediting your mortgage and the balance is reducing as it should.”
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