There are many ways to own gold. You can buy gold coins, gold biscuits, or even gold jewellery. You can also hold gold in financial form. Gold mutual funds, Gold ETFs, and Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGBs). SGBs deserve special mention since these bonds also offer 2.5% interest. No other form of gold ownership pays you… Continue Reading
Why do we have to make down payments for home purchases? Why can’t the banks lend the full amount for the purchase? Two reasons. Firstly, the banks get a wider security cushion while lending. So, if the bank lends Rs 80 lacs for purchase of Rs 1 crore house, in the event of default, the… Continue Reading
You do not pay any interest during the interest-free period on the credit card. But the bank cannot afford to lend you money for free. The bank must be compensated — two major ways and a few minor ways. High Interest on Unpaid Amount First, when you do not pay your bill on time, the… Continue Reading
An interest rate hike hurts all borrowers. For the same service (loan), you must pay more every month. Or pay the same amount but for a longer period. Neither is a desirable outcome for a borrower. And yes, the rate hikes hurt the borrower running a tight budget a bit more. In such cases, the… Continue Reading
The loan amount is already decided. You do not control the interest rate. The only aspects where you have discretion are: Loan Tenure Pre-EMI or Full EMI Regular home loan scheme OR Home-saver loans (such as SBI Maxgain) #1 Choosing the Loan Tenure We have this tendency to close the home loans as soon as… Continue Reading
While digital lending apps are all the rage, I am a bit paranoid even about downloading and browsing through such apps. I worry about the Machiavellian design of their user interface and that I may be fooled into taking a loan I didn’t want. And while it may sound surprising, this can happen. Recently, I… Continue Reading
You need Rs 5 lacs to fund an important event in your family. You have 2 options. Sell your debt funds (you had built up an emergency fund using debt funds for such situations only) Take a personal loan Selling your debt funds seems a superior decision over taking a personal loan. Why? Because the… Continue Reading
You have heard of gold loans. You reach out to a bank or NBFC, pledge your gold/gold jewellery, and the bank sanctions you a loan. However, have you heard of a gold-backed credit card? I had not until I read about a gold backed credit card from Rupeek. How does it work? Simple. You pledge… Continue Reading
The Reserve Bank has hiked the Repo rate in the first week of May 2022. If your home loan is linked to Repo rate or to any external benchmark, you will soon see one of the following things happen. EMI stays constant and the outstanding loan tenure goes up (that is the usually the default… Continue Reading
You have a home loan from HDFC? In April 2022, it was announced that HDFC will merge into HDFC Bank. You may ask, aren’t these the same? No. HDFC and HDFC Bank are different entities. HDFC is a housing finance company (HFC) and is the promoter of HDFC bank, the bank. If you are still… Continue Reading