How to Save Time and Money with YNAB’s Loan Planner

[@michaelaberry1276]

My YNAB win is that as someone in a minimum wage 0 hour job, I've managed to get 1-2 weeks ahead (I'm paid weekly so this is a couple of paychecks for me). I'm also on track to pay off my student overdraft before it starts accruing interest in the spring

[@YNABofficial]

This is nothing short of amazing to me, Michaela! You are absolutely killing it! 🔥~BenB

[@okgreat252]

Well done! It’s never easy being on a low income 👏👏👏

[@Jubu_love]

Your screens switched sides and it totally through me off. LOL. Love watching you guys!

[@YNABofficial]

Haha! We're keeping you on your toes. 😉 ~BenB

[@angeljuarez93]

I would love if an investment planner/calculator could be made. There are so many online and honestly they just all confuse me. I know there are alot of factors when it comes to investing, but hopefully it could be possible in the future. It would definitely be motivating to invest more

[@YNABofficial]

Yes, this would be awesome! ~Ernie

[@NettieFIRE]

Oh my gosh! I’m famous. Thanks for the ‘shout out’ budget nerds. (I’ve already made a couple of other comments before I saw the end of the video with ‘YNAB wins’ 🤦🏻‍♀️ couldn’t hold back my excitement about the loan planner).

[@benc3726]

I'm super excited to see you folks branching out into new tools! I like seeing YNAB's usability being brought to bear on new areas. I'd really love to see a dashboard where I could play around with shifting money between paying down loans and investing.

[@darkhippie1976]

First, I want to say how much I love watching your show! I'm excited for addition of credit card tools, especially being able to run the snowball method! Would it be possible to add bi-weekly to the target frequencies? I think that would be really helpful for budgeting on a bi-weekly pay schedule. Thank you for all of your awesome information, tips, and tricks!!

[@YNABofficial]

Hi Darcie! We hear ya- bi-weekly targets would be so helpful to so many folks, but in the meantime you can plan for them using scheduled transactions. docs.youneedabudget.com/article/165-scheduled-transactions ~Ernie

[@bethgatewood2888]

I agree with Ernie. I just don't get as excited about investing as I do about paying down debt. I think it comes down to investing being risky and debt pay down having a more assured return 🤔

[@YNABofficial]

That's a good point! Along those same lines, I think also because I can see the immediate impact of paying debt. Know what I mean? With investing I'm just guessing about the impact-how much will $100 into my Roth be worth in 25 years? There's really no way of knowing 🤣 ~Ernie

[@noneya154]

Just one time, can we get a "Hey I'm Ernie..." "and I'm Burt!" :)

[@YNABofficial]

OMG, we have totally joked about doing that. It will happen when you least expect it. ~BenB

[@chaulsin]

We just bought a house. Very excited to start this loan planner, sounds great! I'm very much the budgeter in our relationship, so this will give me good information for my partner.

[@hooksbookspodcast]

YES!!! Debt dashboard with snowball method!!!!!!! I’m already doing the snowball and using a separate spreadsheet! Would love to be doing that with my YNAB app!!! You guys are doing great things!! Thank you!!!

[@elizabethgadsby9641]

Thanks for another great budget nerds episode! I am enjoying the loan planner feature. My win to share is that during the year end review of my net worth, I realized that I can set a realistic and achievable goal of a positive net worth by the end of 2022! I've been using YNAB for about 7 months and had never tracked net worth before. My student loan debt from grad school has been demoralizing for a while now and my focus was on getting rid of it (but it will take so long!). Being able to watch my net worth grow (become less negative) has let me find peace and spark an excitement about my finances that I haven't felt since acquiring these student loans. Thank you YNAB! (Sorry for the 2nd comment, my first one disappeared on me)

[@YNABofficial]

That's weird-I just saw your first comment here. 🤷‍♂ Anywho, I'm so happy for you that your student loan isn't stressing you out anymore! That's HUGE! ~Ernie

[@elizabethgadsby9641]

@@YNABofficial I went to like your response and I guess somehow deleted my original comment Ernie 😂

[@breezybre2670]

Definitely would be awesome to allow for the biweekly payments. I have added my mortgage under loan payments even though I pay biweekly.

[@jennpatterson8802]

Will there be an option for biweekly mtge payments? We pay extra plus ours biweekly so we get an extra full payment as well as paying extra.

[@YNABofficial]

Hi Jenn! Our Debt product team will continue to improve the Loan Planner, so I'm sure eventually we'll see other payment frequencies available. In the meantime, you can continue to record those bi-weekly payments in YNAB and then reconcile the mortgage account at the end of the month to get the correct balance. ~Ernie

[@ourdreamscollide]

thanks for making this video!! I'm getting ready for my first mortgage and am feeling weirdly...excited? about it! Can't wait to try the loan planner!!

[@NettieFIRE]

Yeah for budget nerds and yeah for the DEBT TEAM!! 💕 Bring it on!! So exciting

[@breezybre2670]

Yeah! You two are just so awesome... I only wish I understood YNAB the way you both do!

[@NettieFIRE]

You are never going to make a big sacrifice if your can’t see the reward ~BenB @YNAB So true! I like to think to myself that financial sacrifices - of any sort - are similar to a purchase which most of us love doing. With a sacrifice that goes towards debt paydown you are ‘purchasing’ something; be it saved interest charges, saved time, freed up cash flow (which Ernie loves), or guaranteed returns on your money because of the compounding effect of debt (like Ben mentioned - it’s the Math of paying debt vs saving that makes a difference!!) Great episode! Great topic!

[@SGast]

I would like to see something similar for savings/investments as well. I think that could be interesting for retirement savings, allowing you to combine different accounts and run scenarios with different interest rates. I am currently saving for a down-payment and I think you could also use it for things like this or other really big savings goals like college etc.

[@rebekahyoungers831]

Ahhhh...this makes me want to pay down our mortgage faster, too! But my husband and I agreed not to pay any extra after we refinanced to a 15 year mortgage in 2020, because our interest rate is low and we're embarking on our kids' college years. It makes sense intellectually, but I've still run a whole bunch of scenarios regarding the mortgage. :) It's just too much fun to play with it!

[@karlosfreeman1958]

Is there a way to account for moratoriums ?

[@kardrynka]

Yt didn't notify me about new Budget Nerds episode, whaaa?

[@sarahgoulet7654]

my morgtage and other personal loans are not linked since the holder is not recognized. is there a plan to make the loan planner functional for accounts that are not linked?

[@CiriolaLP]

Question from a newbie foreigner: does the loan planner account for the amortization of the mortgage when asking the interests percentage? Thanks in advance

[@praveshk.badjoonauth2653]

Could we have more charts/graphs on the Loan Planner page please? It needs some more colour and life.

[@jayowen1148]

How did you guys test this in beta? It doesn’t work. Maybe how loans work is different in the US but there is no way to edit the interest which is calculating incorrectly. Would love a follow up video to clarify.

[@JKoenigshof]

Quick question: On a recent YNAB podcast, Jesse mentioned that Budget Nerds was coming to the podcast, but I haven't seen any episodes pop up in my feed. Do you know when they will start?

[@YNABofficial]

Oh, it's coming! Likely hitting your ear buds in late winter/early spring (think end of February, early March). 🎧 -Hannah🌻

[@JKoenigshof]

@@YNABofficial Thanks, Hannah!!

[@jazzdraws3505]

Do Ben and Ernie have their own youtube channels?

[@disuba]

What can I do with the loan target once I paid off the loan and already closed the loan account? Can I hide or delete the loan target from now on while keeping that target visible prior?

[@YNABofficial]

You cannot hide the loan target, but you can delete it. You can hide the loan category. ~Ernie

[@stephaniesuechozamacre5078]

I love to see a way to add a fluctuating interest rate. Sometimes loans don't have a estable interest rate at least that is how is in Latin America. I love the feature but I have to adjust the interest rate every month hehe but is gives me a good baselines to work from

[@PatrikKron]

Sounds scary to have a interest rate that can change so often. Although technically many loans (including home loans) don't have fixed interest rates in Sweden either, but they usually stay almost the same for a long time.

[@dstdg18]

Finding someone to budget with I suspect might help me tremendously but unfortunately I'm struggling with this. :(

[@erinmcaleer1189]

#YNABWINS- It is my 1 year YNABiversary today! I wrote an earnest money check for my new home last night! I would NEVER have been able to save a down payment without YNAB. (I know, because it hasn't happened in the last 20 years.) I was elated- and then convinced I couldn't afford the mortgage, and I should run away screaming. I went to YNAB and looked at my ACTUAL total monthly expenses over the course of a whole year, and saw that I CAN afford this mortgage! #YNABProvedIt

[@YNABofficial]

Yes, congrats indeed! That's such an accomplishment! Now just don't make the same mistake as Ben and make sure you budget for new appliances 😉 ~Ernie

[@erinmcaleer1189]

@@YNABofficial 😆 I'll add that category now, Ernie!

[@ForestDasiy]

The debt dashboard would be great for student loans.

[@YNABofficial]

It sure would! Especially if you have a bunch of different loans, like most people do. There is a lot more work to do with student loans too - a lot of scenarios where it could be improved. I'm excited for how it's going to develop! ~BenB

[@noodlerama-md]

How can I simulate a mortgage with a 10 year fixed rate runtime that will need to be re-financed for the remaining loan. Example: You took out a loan for 300,000 with fixed interest for ten years. After ten years you still have 200,000 to pay down and take on a new loan. I want to be able to calculate the impact of extra payments on the first loan and its remaining amount after 10 years.

[@michelleyaciuk5398]

Can you help me understand some questions I have around increasing the debt payment by 1%. I get the first % but after that are you going off of your original amount or do you do a new calculation off of the new amount when you are ready for your next increase.

[@YNABofficial]

Hi Michelle. I'm going off the original amount, so every quarter I add that amount to my mortgage snowball. ~Ernie

[@vickivee]

No one can answer this question for me. My husband pays my car payment out of his business account, which is not on my household budget. He keeps seperate books for his business. How do I incorporate these payments in to the loan tracker to see actual progress? I never see “payments” in my loans, I only see “credits“ in the loan, and that doesn’t affect the pay down calculator or adjust interest amounts for the next month. It looks like the loans are still what the opening balance was entered as even though I enter the transaction. No one has been able to answer this question for me and I cannot find a video or work around for this. Help.

[@YNABofficial]

Unfortunately, there is no good way to track this since the payment account is off your budget. A workaround would be to create an inflow for the car payment in your checking account each month (I would categorize directly to your car payment category) and then immediately create an outflow to the loan planner account. These two transactions aren't actually happening at your bank, but they will cancel each other out in YNAB and they will not impact your checking account balance. But more importantly, you'll be able to represent a payment in the loan planner instead of a credit. Hope that helps! ~Ernie

[@vickivee]

@@YNABofficial that is exactly what I did, and I auto scheduled both transactions to repeat monthly and it’s working the way that I need it to. Thank you. 🙂

[@Tesla-Cannon]

I also want to follow that arbitrary rule but even a 3.5% interest rate just feels like I’m letting them win! Lol

[@quinnloucks2869]

I watched this and went to add my mortgage…1% more is 16 dollars for us which would save us thousands…wow.

[@conureron3792]

Sounds like a great tool!

[@lzhu87]

Ernie, given the numbers you mentioned, I'm guessing you have a mortgage of about 2.5% interest rate. If you had an "investment planner" tool right next to you when you were experimenting with the loan planner and put 8 dollars per month in the investment planner (or any future value calculator for that matter), it would have told you that you would make way more by investing. In fact, buying some Series EE savings bond, which the US Treasury guarantees to double in 20 years would yield an annualized rate of over 3.5%. And, that's an investment with almost zero risk and a similar return time horizon to your mortgage (20 to 30 years). PLEASE, STOP PAYING MORE TO YOUR MORTGAGE! Also, I recently found out that my boss' husband was (in my boss' words) "obsessed with YNAB" in a random work meeting. I count that as a YNAB win!

[@curefansc]

I'm so glad I'm not alone 😂

[@NettieFIRE]

We ‘so need’ a cartoon picture of Ernie in the bubble bath (with his budget) 🛀 . I’ll be looking out for it ‘to drop’ on Budget Nerds 😉 whenever the comment of ‘nerding out’ out is raised

[@YNABofficial]

That sounds like a perfect side project for our design team! 🤣 ~Ernie

[@NettieFIRE]

@@YNABofficial that sound great 😆 my louffer awaits 🤪

[@darkphoenix6807]

I can’t handle that you guys have switched sides. 😜

[@rickhernandez2114]

My loan sucks. If you guys are looking for things to add my loan compounds daily and has no website to check the balance. I don't trust the balance I ever see on the monthly statement.

[@YNABofficial]

Ooof, that sounds miserable, Rick! It'd be awesome if a future iteration of the loan planner could help with that. ~BenB

[@rickhernandez2114]

@@YNABofficial I've got only 2 more payments so will be glad to be done with that. That being said --- I LOVE the loan feature. The only thing I have left to run it on is my mortgage.

[@daniellejones8460]

😂😂😂😂