Compute the month a refinance actually starts saving money — payment delta, breakeven month, and total interest on both paths including the term-reset trap. Use when asked should I refinance, when does a refi break even, compare my loan to a refi offer, or is this refinance worth the closing costs. Produces the breakeven analysis with both interest totals, the if-you-sell-before-month-N warning, and the cases where the breakeven math lies.
Start a fresh conversation. Replace the highlighted placeholders.
Use refinance-breakeven to compare [current balance, rate, and months remaining] with [refinance rate, term, closing costs, and points] for [expected ownership horizon and cash-out amount], including payment delta, both interest totals, breakeven warning, and educational verdict.
Required inputs
[current balance, rate, and months remaining]
[refinance rate, term, closing costs, and points]
[expected ownership horizon and cash-out amount]
User-approved starter prompt based on a pinned source version; check current skill requirements before running. Task evidence ↗
SKILL.md
name: refinance-breakevendescription: "Compute the month a refinance actually starts saving money — payment delta, breakeven month, and total interest on both paths including the term-reset trap. Use when asked should I refinance, when does a refi break even, compare my loan to a refi offer, or is this refinance worth the closing costs. Produces the breakeven analysis with both interest totals, the if-you-sell-before-month-N warning, and the cases where the breakeven math lies."
Refinance Breakeven Skill
"Lower monthly payment" and "saves money" are different claims, and lenders profit from the confusion. This skill computes when a refinance genuinely breaks even — and names the two standard ways the simple math lies: the term reset that trades a lower payment for more total interest, and the cash-out that relabels borrowing as saving.
What This Skill Produces
The breakeven analysis — payment delta, upfront costs, the month cumulative savings pass them
Both interest totals — keep vs refi, side by side, costs included
The honest verdict — refinance / don't / refinance-but-shorter-term, with the reason
Required Inputs
Ask for these if not provided:
Current loan: remaining balance, rate, months left
The offer: rate, term, closing costs, points (if any)
The horizon: how long the user realistically expects to keep this home/loan — breakeven beyond the horizon is a loss dressed as a saving
Cash-out? — if the refi increases the balance, say so; the analysis changes character
Standard amortization, simple-savings breakeven (cumulative payment delta vs upfront costs). The script prints the term-reset warning itself when the new term extends the payoff date. Not modeled — and say so: reinvestment of savings, tax deductibility, ARM resets.
Framework: When Breakeven Math Lies
The lie
The tell
The honest comparison
Term reset
26 years left → "new 30-year loan"
Total interest both paths (the script prints it) — or price the refi at the same remaining term
Cash-out gravity
"…and take $40k out while rates are good"
That's a new loan decision; analyze it separately at its own rate
Points seduction
Lower rate via points
Points go into upfront cost; breakeven moves — recompute, don't eyeball
Horizon blindness
Breakeven month 38, moving in ~2 years
If sell-month < breakeven month, the refi is a donation to the lender
Output Format
Refinance Analysis: [loan]
The Numbers
[Script output: payments, delta, breakeven month, both interest totals, term-reset warning if applicable]
The Verdict
[Refinance / Don't / Refinance at a shorter term] — because [breakeven vs horizon, and the interest-total comparison in one sentence].
What Would Change the Answer
[Rate threshold where the verdict flips; the horizon below which it flips; whether a same-term refi dominates the offered one.]
Educational model, not financial advice — verify with a licensed professional before acting on it.
Quality Checks
Breakeven month is compared against the user's stated horizon, not shown in isolation
Total interest on both paths appears whenever the term changes
Points are inside the upfront cost, not footnoted
The verdict names its reason in one sentence
The disclaimer line appears in the artifact
Anti-Patterns
Do not equate a lower payment with saving money — the term reset is the whole trap
Do not fold a cash-out into the breakeven — it's a separate borrowing decision
Do not report a breakeven month without the sell-before-month-N warning
Do not present the model's output without what it doesn't model