Archive for the 'Credit and borrowing' Category

Why people borrow…..

There is no research in India done on topics like why people borrow, or how people invest…but here is an attempt at guessing…. 1. People borrow to buy assets : buying a car, a motorcycle, a house…..etc. requires sums of money that a person may not have, so borrowing becomes a must. 2. To pay [...]

Debt: Bad or Worse?

For the past 3 decades (at least) YOU have been told by us (media) that there is ‘good’ debt and that there is ‘bad’ debt. Good debt is a beautiful concept ‘created’ by lenders with a great, benevolent image to say that: interest rates are low it is tax deductible and it is used to [...]

Why Interest rates in India are wrong!

Most of the Governments of the world have been subsidised by the middle class. Let me explain. The biggest borrower in India is the Government of India – about 80% let us say. Now this government along with the RBI can decide the interest rates for most of us. They decide: at what rate PPF [...]

Payoff Mortgage or Invest….continued

Let us take a real life case and see what is to be done when you have a lump-sum amount. Should you repay the loan amount or should you Invest that money? The sad part is YOU need to take a decision TODAY and you will be judged (you may be the judge) after 5, [...]

Inflation Indexed bonds….how TIPS works

The government keeps talking about Inflation Indexed bonds – we are not clear when it will come. We have no clue as to how it will be structured in India. However this is how it should work if they do a cut and paste from the US – TIPS is the US product. Principally this [...]

Should I pay off my housing loan? or invest the money?

I have handled this question many times, and have come out with similar answers. However here are some questions which are IRRELEVANT …. 1. How much has the house appreciated by: Many people write in to say ‘I paid Rs. 20L now it is worth Rs. 37 lakhs’…This is completely immaterial. Your house appreciating has [...]