The benefits of flexible mortgage payments

Most people pay their mortgages monthly, but you can choose another payment frequency:

Semi-monthly (24 payments per year)
Your monthly payment is divided in half; you pay twice a month.

Biweekly (26 payments per year)
Your monthly payment is multiplied by 12 and divided by 26; you pay every 2 weeks.

Accelerated biweekly (26 payments per year)
Your monthly payment is divided by 2 and you pay every 2 weeks; this adds up to one extra monthly payment per year.

Weekly (52 payments per year)
Your monthly payment is multiplied by 12 and divided by 52; you pay every week.

Accelerated weekly (52 payments per year)
Your monthly payment is divided by 4 and you pay every week; this adds up to one extra monthly payment per year.

Increasing your payment frequency to accelerated biweekly or accelerated weekly reduces your principal and amortization faster. But you may need to pay an interest adjustment amountOpens a popup. for the period from your last payment to the revised payment date.

To fit your cash flow, you could also schedule your mortgage payments to come out of your account on your pay day.

Find out how much you can save if you change your payment frequency with our mortgage payment calculator.

Boost your regular payment

If your mortgage agreement lets you, increase or even double your regular mortgage payment without paying additional fees or penalties. Any amount you pay that's over and above your regular payment goes straight to your principal. This means you'll be mortgage-free sooner.

Use your prepayment privileges

Most lenders let you prepay 10% to 20% once per calendar year. So, you could use these privileges to your advantage. If you make larger lump sum payments, you'll pay your mortgage down quicker. Your interest costs over the term go down and you'll be mortgage-free sooner.

Shorten your amortization period

You can save thousands of dollars by shortening your amortization period from 30 to 25 years, or from 25 to 20 years. Your regular payment goes up, but you’ll pay off your mortgage faster. The longer the principal is outstanding, the more interest you pay over the life of your mortgage.