Box D of your Loan Estimate, divided by your true monthly savings, is the honest break-even. Using the wrong cost number is where most people go off track. Box D is total loan costs. Don't include prepaid items like the escrow deposit for taxes and insurance, because you'd pay those with or without the refinance; they aren't a cost of the loan. Box D divided by monthly savings gives you the break-even in months. Reading the result: - Six months or less: a no-brainer. - One to three years: a judgment call that depends on how long you'll keep the loan. Some loan officers will call 20 to 30 months acceptable; we like to see six to twelve, because a short break-even leaves far more room if you end up refinancing again. - Either way, weigh how much the monthly cash-flow relief matters to your household right now. Freeing up money each month has real value beyond the pure payback math. On points: we lean against paying them. A zero-point or low-cost structure usually gives you a cleaner, faster break-even, and paying points to chase a lower rate is a bet on rates nobody can promise. If you want the points comparison anyway, that's something some people want to see, and we'll run it for you. Pull up your box D and we'll run the exact months together on the free Roadmap conversation.