Two loans with the same monthly payment can carry very different total interest costs depending on rate and term — a longer term lowers the monthly payment but spreads interest over more months, usually raising the total paid even at an identical rate.

🇵🇹 Early or partial repayments on Portuguese home loans can carry a fee, but it's legally capped at a small percentage of the amount repaid — and cutting the balance early usually saves more in interest than that fee costs, especially in a loan's first years, when interest makes up the largest share of each payment.