The Canadian 35 Year Mortgage, Some Numbers

A quick chart showing the numbers 5 years later on $500,000 borrowed in principal at 4% interest.

	Monthly Payment	Total Interest Paid	Total Principal Paid	Remaining Mortgage Balance
35 year amort	$2,214	$96,553	$36,279	$463,721
30 year amort	$2,387	$95,462	$47,762	$452,238
25 year amort	$2,639	$93,874	$64,477	$435,523

If you went with a 35 year mortgage, you'd have a whopping $36,000 in principal paid down, after five long years of paying nearly $100,000 in interest. That might qualify as renting from the bank. But the bank doesn't have to make your repairs.

For future planning, this is what your payments would look like under each of these scenarios with interest rates rising to 8%.

8% reset	remaining principal	monthly payment	change in payment
30 year	$463,721	$3402	+$1188
25 year	$452,238	$3490	+$1103
20 year	$435,523	$3642	+$1003

What if you decide that looks a little steep? Say you decide to work with the bank to refinance what's left at 30 years instead.

8% reset	remaining principal	monthly payment	change in payment
30 year	$463,721	$3402	+$1188
30 year	$452,238	$3318	+$931
30 year	$435,523	$3196	+$557

That is, of course, assuming you've left this option open by not going with 35 years in the first place.