A good credit score is important. It can provide you with access to a wider range of credit facilities and help reduce the cost of credit. Going forward, your credit score may play an important role in non-financial matters, say employment or taking a house on rent. Fair enough but what are the factors that… Continue Reading
I have not found too many people who are not in a rush to close their home loans. For some, the obsession is so high that they put everything else, even long-term investments, on the back burner while they focus on closing their home loans. Do you belong to the same group? Nothing wrong in… Continue Reading
The festive season has begun. It starts with Ganesh festival (at least in some parts of the country), then Navratri, Diwali, and all the way to Christmas and the New year. The retailers also want to cash in on the festive mood and launch sales deals, discounts, and cashback offers during the period. This is… Continue Reading
You have 2 home loans. You got an annual bonus. You want to prepay your home loan. Which home loan would you prepay first? Clearly, the one with a higher rate of interest, right? You save more by paying off the loan with a higher rate of interest. Ready-to-Move-in or under-Construction Property? The choice will… Continue Reading
Home loans are long tenure loans. 15-30 years. And even a difference of a few basis points can make a huge difference to your overall nominal outgo. Assuming the interest rates stay constant, here is the difference between the cash outgo to repay a Rs 50 lacs home loan in 20 years. Interest Rate 7.50%… Continue Reading
Home loan interest rates have risen over the 15 months. When interest rates rise, the default response by the banks is usually to increase the tenure while keeping the EMI constant. If the tenure can’t be increased because of the loan tenure breaching the contracted tenure or because you don’t want to pay for a… Continue Reading
Do you use credit cards for cashbacks, discounts, and rewards points? Many of us do. What if the bank were to suddenly reduce such benefits on your credit card? Why Would Your Bank Reduce the Benefits? Yes, the customer may get annoyed and feel cheated. You may use the card less or even stop using… Continue Reading
If you own a credit card and have been paying your bills on time, your bank must have bombarded you with one of the following offers. This is over and above various merchant/brand or discount/cashback offers that the bank sends communications about. Get a higher credit limit. Get a personal loan on your credit card.… Continue Reading
Credit card debt is the most expensive debt in the formal finance sector, with the annual interest rates ranging from 30% to 45% p.a. Hence, you should try to avoid revolving your credit card debt. “Revolving” means not paying your credit card debt in full and carrying forward unpaid amounts to the next cycle. The… Continue Reading
That’s how it should be, right? Longer home loan tenure means you want a longer period to repay the home loan. And that can happen only if you repay the loan slowly. Still, when I wrote about a 40-year home loan product a few weeks back and discussed how you would have paid only ~15%… Continue Reading