How do I change my loan terms?
Making changes to the terms of a loan after you've set it up is easy. Here's how:
- Open the loan account that you want to change the loan terms for.
- If necessary, click the Loan Details button.
- Click Edit Terms and make changes as necessary.
- Loan Name
Enter the name you want to use to refer to the account in Quicken. This name will appear in reports, and in the Quicken interface.
- Loan Type
Select the type of loan you want to set up. Your selection determines the categories Quicken creates to track your loan. For example, to track a mortgage Quicken creates Home:Mortgage:Principal; and to track an auto loan Quicken creates Auto&Transport:Auto Payment:Principal. For "connected" loan accounts, this option may not be available because the loan type is determined by your financial institution.
- Opening date and balance
If your loan is:
- A new bank loan, enter the loan amount in Original Balance. Quicken inserts today's date in Opening Date, but you can change it.
- An existing bank loan, enter the original balance of the loan in Original Balance, and enter the date on which you first took out the loan in Opening Date.
- Current interest rate
- Enter the interest rate that will be in effect for the next payment.
- If the loan is an adjustable-rate loan, you can change the rate when necessary.
- You don't have to enter the percent sign.
- Original length
The Original Length of the loan refers to the period of time during which payments are due, starting from the date the loan was opened until the date the last payment is due.
- Compounding period
- Tell Quicken how often your loan is compounded. Select Daily, Monthly, or Semi-Annually from the drop-down list.
- The Compounding Period affects how much interest is owed on a loan. The more frequently the interest is calculated, the higher the total interest is.
- Payment schedule
Tell Quicken how often you make payments. Select the period that matches your loan from the drop-down list.
- Current balance
Enter the amount due on the loan, as of the opening date you entered above. For "connected" loan accounts, you may not be able to change the current balance because it is downloaded from your financial institution.
- Monthly payment
Enter the base amount of your loan payment. Include your regular payment only (principal + interest). Don't include any fees other amounts. If this is an interest-only loan, enter it as the payment amount.
