Principal Balance

Principal balance, in regard to a mortgage or other debt instrument, is the amount due and owing to satisfy the payoff of the underlying obligation.

Amortized mortgage loans automatically pay a portion of each monthly payment to the principal balance with the rest being paid as interest.

An interest-only loan does not require any monies be paid toward the principal balance each month, but is allowable.

Famous quotes containing the words principal and/or balance:

    There are three principal means of acquiring knowledge available to us: observation of nature, reflection, and experimentation. Observation collects facts; reflection combines them; experimentation verifies the result of that combination. Our observation of nature must be diligent, our reflection profound, and our experiments exact. We rarely see these three means combined; and for this reason, creative geniuses are not common.
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    In a famous Middletown study of Muncie, Indiana, in 1924, mothers were asked to rank the qualities they most desire in their children. At the top of the list were conformity and strict obedience. More than fifty years later, when the Middletown survey was replicated, mothers placed autonomy and independence first. The healthiest parenting probably promotes a balance of these qualities in children.
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