diff --git a/HISTORY.md b/HISTORY.md
index c0b9fd8..58988db 100644
--- a/HISTORY.md
+++ b/HISTORY.md
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 
 ### 🔍 Snowball review
 
+- **[Debt] Snowball page surfaces projection failures + smaller polish** — the payoff-projection panel silently swallowed fetch errors (`catch { /* non-fatal */ }`), so a failed load showed nothing with no way to recover; it now shows a "Couldn't load … Try again" state (and a subtle "showing the last result" banner when a *refresh* fails). `loadProjection` now uses the amount currently typed (not just the last-saved value), matching the debounced live preview. The over-50-years banner now reads "one or more debts won't pay off at this rate" (accurate for the unpayable-debt case too), and the extra-payment validation copy says "non-negative" (0 is allowed). (Snowball review #2, #3, #8; #9 was already handled by the input's on-blur auto-save.)
 - **[Debt] Payoff projection no longer fakes a "freedom" date when a debt can't be paid off** — if a debt's minimum payment never overcomes its interest and the rolling snowball can't cover it either, it never reaches $0. The simulation previously excluded that debt from `months_to_freedom` (a `Math.max` over payoff months treated "never" as 0), so it reported the *other* debts' last month as your payoff date — misleadingly optimistic. Now `months_to_freedom`/`payoff_date` are `null` when any active debt never clears, the result is flagged `capped`, and each such debt is marked `never_paid` (`services/snowballService.js`, `services/aprService.js`). (Snowball review #1)
 - **[Debt] Snowball plan API: consistent errors, less duplication, no N+1** — the four plan-lifecycle endpoints (pause/resume/complete/abandon) were near-identical copies and returned a plain `{error}` shape unlike the rest of the API; folded them into one `transitionPlan` helper returning `standardizeError` `{message, code}` with proper state guards + ownership scoping. `enrichPlanWithProgress` fetched each snapshot bill in its own query (`GET /plans` = plans × debts queries) and wasn't user-scoped — now one `WHERE id IN (…) AND user_id = ?` batch. Test: `tests/snowballPlanRoute.test.js`. (Snowball review #4, #6, #7)
 - **[Debt] Added the missing test coverage for all payoff math** — the debt-payoff engine (`calculateSnowball`/`calculateAvalanche`/`calculateMinimumOnly`/`amortizationSchedule`/`monthsToPayoff`/`debtAprSnapshot`) had **zero** automated tests despite being the most math-heavy code in the app. Added `tests/snowballMath.test.js` (12 tests) with hand-calculated examples (0% and 12% APR amortization rows, snowball rolling, avalanche-beats-snowball interest, skip reasons, APR breakdown) and the unpayable-debt edge above. (Snowball review #5)
diff --git a/client/pages/SnowballPage.jsx b/client/pages/SnowballPage.jsx
index 90eadb7..cadb4a5 100644
--- a/client/pages/SnowballPage.jsx
+++ b/client/pages/SnowballPage.jsx
@@ -102,8 +102,8 @@ function AvalancheComparison({ snowball, avalanche }) {
   );
 }
 
-function ProjectionPanel({ projection, projectionLoading, billCount }) {
-  if (projectionLoading) {
+function ProjectionPanel({ projection, projectionLoading, projectionError, onRetry, billCount }) {
+  if (projectionLoading && !projection) {
     return (
       <div className="surface-elevated rounded-xl p-5 space-y-3">
         <Skeleton className="h-5 w-36" />
@@ -111,6 +111,17 @@ function ProjectionPanel({ projection, projectionLoading, billCount }) {
       </div>
     );
   }
+  if (projectionError && !projection) {
+    return (
+      <div className="surface-elevated rounded-xl p-5 text-center">
+        <AlertCircle className="mx-auto h-6 w-6 text-muted-foreground/50" />
+        <p className="mt-2 text-sm text-muted-foreground">Couldn’t load the payoff projection.</p>
+        <Button size="sm" variant="outline" className="mt-3 gap-1.5" onClick={onRetry}>
+          <RefreshCw className="h-3.5 w-3.5" /> Try again
+        </Button>
+      </div>
+    );
+  }
   if (!projection) return null;
   const sb = projection.snowball;
   const av = projection.avalanche;
@@ -131,10 +142,17 @@ function ProjectionPanel({ projection, projectionLoading, billCount }) {
           </div>
         )}
       </div>
+      {projectionError && (
+        <div className="flex items-center gap-2 px-5 py-2 bg-muted/40 border-b border-border/40 text-xs text-muted-foreground">
+          <AlertCircle className="h-3.5 w-3.5 shrink-0" />
+          Couldn’t refresh — showing the last result.
+          <button type="button" onClick={onRetry} className="ml-auto underline hover:text-foreground">Retry</button>
+        </div>
+      )}
       {sb.capped && (
         <div className="flex items-start gap-2 px-5 py-3 bg-amber-500/10 border-b border-amber-500/20 text-xs text-amber-400">
           <AlertTriangle className="h-3.5 w-3.5 mt-0.5 shrink-0" />
-          Payoff exceeds 50 years. Add extra monthly budget or increase minimum payments.
+          One or more debts won’t pay off at this rate. Add extra monthly budget or increase minimum payments.
         </div>
       )}
       {needsBalances && (
@@ -265,6 +283,8 @@ export default function SnowballPage() {
 
   const [projection,        setProjection]        = useState(null);
   const [projectionLoading, setProjectionLoading] = useState(false);
+  const [projectionError,   setProjectionError]   = useState(false);
+  const typedExtraRef = useRef('');
 
   const [editingBalance, setEditingBalance] = useState({ billId: null, value: '' });
 
@@ -276,11 +296,19 @@ export default function SnowballPage() {
   const [dropTargetId,      setDropTargetId]      = useState(null);
 
   // ── loading ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+  // Keep the projection in sync with the amount CURRENTLY typed (not just the
+  // last-saved value), so refreshing after a balance edit doesn't drop an
+  // in-progress extra payment. Mirrors the debounced live-projection effect.
   const loadProjection = useCallback(async () => {
     setProjectionLoading(true);
-    try { setProjection(await api.snowballProjection()); }
-    catch { /* non-fatal */ }
-    finally { setProjectionLoading(false); }
+    try {
+      const extra = parseFloat(typedExtraRef.current);
+      const params = Number.isFinite(extra) && extra >= 0 ? { extra } : {};
+      setProjection(await api.snowballProjection(params));
+      setProjectionError(false);
+    } catch {
+      setProjectionError(true);
+    } finally { setProjectionLoading(false); }
   }, []);
 
   const load = useCallback(async () => {
@@ -374,7 +402,7 @@ export default function SnowballPage() {
   const handleSaveExtraPayment = async () => {
     const val = extraPayment.trim();
     if (val !== '' && (isNaN(parseFloat(val)) || parseFloat(val) < 0)) {
-      toast.error('Extra payment must be a positive number'); return;
+      toast.error('Extra payment must be a non-negative number'); return;
     }
     if (val === extraPaymentRef.current) return;
     setSavingSettings(true);
@@ -468,6 +496,7 @@ export default function SnowballPage() {
   // with the current input — no client-side duplicate of snowballService logic.
   const liveProjectionRef = useRef(null);
   useEffect(() => {
+    typedExtraRef.current = extraPayment; // keep loadProjection() in sync with the input
     const t = setTimeout(async () => {
       const extra = parseFloat(extraPayment);
       const params = Number.isFinite(extra) && extra >= 0 ? { extra } : {};
@@ -475,8 +504,9 @@ export default function SnowballPage() {
         setProjectionLoading(true);
         const result = await api.snowballProjection(params);
         setProjection(result);
+        setProjectionError(false);
       } catch {
-        // non-fatal — keep showing last known projection
+        setProjectionError(true); // keep last projection, but surface the failure
       } finally {
         setProjectionLoading(false);
       }
@@ -1007,6 +1037,8 @@ export default function SnowballPage() {
             <ProjectionPanel
               projection={displayProjection}
               projectionLoading={projectionLoading}
+              projectionError={projectionError}
+              onRetry={loadProjection}
               billCount={bills.length}
             />
           </div>