It's nearly impossible to go through life today without taking out some kind of loan. From buying a home to buying a car, from paying for a college education to buying consumer durables, everyone needs loans to finance their purchases.

With each loan taken out, repayment installments become an increasingly important part of the process. The problem one often faces is how to calculate the numbers related to one's loans. Whether it's a smaller repayment installments with a longer duration or larger installments with a smaller duration, the calculations send most people into a confused state. A financial planner or expert can take advantage of a loan calculator. They address the numbers problem by helping to quickly figure out the various permutations and combinations that are possible for loan repayment and calculate the equated monthly installments.

Loan calculators differ based on the type of loan being considered.

For example, students requiring financial aid have specific loan calculators designed for them. These custom calculators help them ascertain school costs, how much one needs to save and how much aid one needs. These calculators compute an estimate of the size of the monthly loan payments and the annual salary required to manage the repayments without too much financial difficulty and with a short tenure.

Similarly there are other calculators that help with mortgage and auto loan calculations. Mortgage calculators providing an estimate of the price of the home one may be able to afford and the mortgage amount that one qualifies for. Others calculate one's monthly mortgage payments quickly and easily by entering the loan amount, interest rate and length of the loan.

These calculators are essentially easy to operate and user friendly too. All that is required is to fill in the numbers and the rest of the job is done by the calculators. A variety of specialized online loan calculators are available today. However, it is important to use online calculators that are provided by a reputed site or company to minimize the chance of errors.