> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://guide.mypayoffpro.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://guide.mypayoffpro.com/milestones.md).

# Milestones

The nine badges, your own custom goals, and your year in review.

Thirty years is too long to go without a win. Milestones breaks the loan into pieces you can actually reach, and marks each one as you pass it.

## What a milestone measures

Every milestone is a percentage of **principal paid**, not time served. Paying for ten years does not earn you a badge. Clearing ten percent of the debt does.

That distinction matters, because early payments are mostly interest. The badges track the part that is actually yours.

## The nine milestones

| Paid off | Badge             |
| -------- | ----------------- |
| 1%       | First Victory     |
| 5%       | Building Momentum |
| 10%      | Double Digits     |
| 15%      | Gaining Speed     |
| 20%      | Strong Progress   |
| 25%      | Quarter Complete  |
| 50%      | Halfway There     |
| 75%      | Home Stretch      |
| 100%     | Paid in Full      |

The first six come quickly enough to keep you interested. The last three are the real ones.

## What is on the screen

**Overall progress** sits at the top, along with how many of the nine you have achieved.

**Milestone Timeline** lists them in order. Tap it to expand. Each row is marked **Achieved** or **In Progress**, and an in-progress row shows how much principal is still to pay before it unlocks. Any goal you created yourself is flagged **YOUR TARGET**. When the loan is finished, the last row reads "Paid in full. Congratulations."

**Achievements** is the gallery view, with a count of how many you have unlocked. Tap it to see them all. Goals you made yourself are badged **Custom**.

**Share your progress** appears once you have unlocked at least one milestone. It shows the percentage you have paid off, and nothing about the size of your loan.

## Custom goals

The nine built-in milestones are fixed. If they do not match how you think about the loan, make your own.

You might want a badge at 33% because that is when your balance drops below a number that has been bothering you. Or at 60%, because that is the year your eldest starts school.

### Creating one

1. Scroll to **Create Custom Milestone**.
2. Tap the create button.
3. On the **Custom Goal** sheet, set your **Target Percentage** using the **+** and **−** buttons, or tap one of the quick-pick percentages.
4. Give it a **Goal Name**. Make it mean something to you.
5. Tap **Create Goal**.

You can have up to **five** active custom goals at a time. The card tells you how many slots you have left, and says **Limit reached** when you are at five.

### Managing them

The manage button opens **Manage Custom Goals**, where you can review and delete. Deleting asks you to confirm, and it cannot be undone.

## Celebrations

When you cross a milestone, a card appears to mark it.

* It can appear over **any** tab, not just this one. If you are on Schedule when the extra payment tips you over 25%, the celebration shows up there.
* It does not disappear on its own. It waits for you.

Below 100%, the background dims and you can tap anywhere outside the card to dismiss it. At 100% the card takes over the whole screen, because that one has earned it.

Each milestone celebrates once. Once you have seen it, it does not come back.

There is a share option built into the celebration card if you want to mark the moment.

## After an extra payment

Log an extra payment and a short card appears reading "Nice move." with the interest that payment avoided. It is a smaller thing than a milestone, and deliberately so. It shows up right after you apply the payment, wherever you are.

## Year in Payoff

Once a year the app sums up the ground you covered and gives you an image you can share. It lives on the [Progress](/progress.md#year-in-payoff) tab.

Milestones is worth a look once a month. If a badge is close, that is often reason enough to send your lender a little extra on the [Schedule](/schedule.md) tab.