When Should You Consider Refinancing Your Loan?

Refinancing a loan simply means availing a loan from a new lender to pay off an existing one. You approach a new lender for loan refinancing/balance transfer. The new lender sanctions the loan and settles your loan outstanding with the existing lender. Subsequently, your obligation with the existing lender terminates and a new repayment obligation… Continue Reading

Using Annual Bonus to Prepay Home Loan

Most salaried employees get their annual bonuses in the first quarter of the financial year. Many of us plan to spend it way before we actually receive the bonus. You have to keep up with the commitments that you made to your kids, your spouse, your siblings or your parents. You may have an eye on… Continue Reading

How a Loan at 4% Costs You 11%?

You purchase your favourite gadget/furniture. At the sales counter, you notice an offer of taking a loan for the purchase amount at 4%. You get excited. After all, you get a higher rate of interest in a fixed deposit. It makes for a nice arbitrage opportunity. Let’s understand such offers with the help of an example. You… Continue Reading

All You Need to Know About Loan Against Property

You need Rs 20 lacs to fund a wedding in the family. You approached a few friends/relatives for help. They chipped in but you are still Rs 15 lacs short. You approached a few banks and NBFCs. However, your requests for a personal loan of Rs 15 lacs were politely declined, primarily because you are… Continue Reading

The Truth behind Pre-Approved Personal Loans

Ever received an e-mail about pre-approved loans from your savings bank or credit card issuing bank? Most of us will answer this question in the affirmative. The e-mail is typically about a pre-approved home loan or a personal loan. The frequency of such e-mails is quite high too. I get an e-mail from my credit… Continue Reading

Loan against PPF Account

You are looking for a small loan of Rs 1 lacs for purchasing new furniture for living room of your new house. The first thing that comes to mind is a personal loan. But you are aware that personal loans are quite expensive. The interest rates can vary from 14% to 18% p.a. or even… Continue Reading

9 Things to Consider before Availing Personal Loan

These days, it is not uncommon to find at least one e-mail per day about instant or pre-approved personal loan in your mailbox.  The creative teams at banks can actually make you feel that the offer has specifically been customized for you. Do not fall for the attractive advertisement. You must avoid personal loans to… Continue Reading

How to Get out of Debt Trap

What has to happen before you think you are in a debt trap? Does default of your EMI payments or credit card payments count as a debt trap? Or is there a less critical situation which can also be termed a debt trap? What about when you do not make your credit card payments in… Continue Reading

Which Loan Should You Prepay First?

You can check the impact of prepayments on your home loan using our Home Loan EMI Calculator. You recently landed up a hefty bonus. You have the financial wisdom of not splurging the entire bonus amount on expensive gadgets or a long vacation. You have earmarked a significant amount to prepay existing debt. But, there… Continue Reading