Invest in mutual funds or prepay your home loan: What should you be doing?
Investing in mutual funds versus prepaying your home loan is a decision that hinges on various factors, primarily your financial goals, risk tolerance, and rate of returns and interest rates. Deciding between investing in mutual funds or prepaying your home loan depends on several circumstances.
Here’s a tailored scenario for one to understand mutual funds investments vs home loan payments:
When you invest in mutual funds, you get the following benefits.
Potentially higher returns: Equity mutual funds have historically offered returns higher than home loan interest rates. This potential for higher returns can significantly bolster your wealth over the long term.
Wealth growth: By investing in mutual funds, you build a corpus for future goals such as retirement or your child’s education. Moreover, at some point in time, you would be able to repay your home loan and save the surplus amount. This is because it allows your money to potentially grow faster than the interest saved by prepaying your home loan.
Tax benefits: While prepaying your home loan might offer tax deductions on interest repayment, investing in mutual funds could provide tax benefits like long-term capital gains tax if held for more than a year.
Sanjiv Bajaj, Jt. Chairman and MD, BajajCapital Ltd., explains why investing in mutual funds is better than prepaying your home loan.
For instance, the home loan interest rate is 8.30%, and the expected mutual fund return is 12% (after considering taxes). In this hypothetical scenario, prepaying the home loan might not be optimal; here’s why
Prepayment benefit: By prepaying the home loan, you would effectively earn a guaranteed return of 8% (the interest saved).
Mutual fund potential: However, investing in mutual funds can earn a higher return of 12%, even after considering taxes. Bajaj says this presents an opportunity for greater wealth accumulation compared to the guaranteed return from prepaying the home loan.
Thus, in theory, investing in mutual funds might generate higher returns than utilising the money to pay home loans. But, Harsh Gahlaut, CEO and Co-founder of FinEdge, says, “Practically, it would make more sense to channel the money towards repaying the home loan simply because, from a personal finance viewpoint, it will lead to lower debt, which in turn should free up a higher monthly surplus to invest in a disciplined way in the future and more importantly give you peace of mind of not having a large debt servicing liability in your life.”
Nevertheless, one should do proper financial planning. While investing, one should be better off setting aside monthly surpluses towards long-term financial goals (through systematic investment plans) and channelling any ad hoc income surplus (like bonuses, proceeds from the sale of assets, etc.) towards reducing their debts.
“The key to making the right decision is to engage with an investment expert to understand your income, debt and surplus ratios and identify and map key financial goals. This will enable you to make wise investment decisions,” added Gahlaut.
Watch Live TV in English
Watch Live TV in Hindi
News Related
-
Anyone who’s purchased gift baskets to hand out to loved ones this holiday season might need to find a backup present after the latest food recall that involves festive cookies. Gift basket company Wine Country Gift Baskets just announced that it is voluntarily recalling all gift baskets that feature Acorn Baking ...
See Details:
Recall Just Announced For Popular Cookies Featured In Holiday Gift Baskets
-
LOS ANGELES: Quarterback Jalen Hurts ran in an overtime touchdown to give the Philadelphia Eagles a 37-34 NFL win over the Buffalo Bills Sunday (Monday in Manila) and move them to 10-1 on the season. The Eagles, who lost the Super Bowl to Kansas City last season, trailed at half-time ...
See Details:
Eagles rally past Bills in overtime as Chiefs win
-
Yen Makabenta First word WHILE UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and other promoters of the climate emergency are preparing to convene the 28th conference of the parties (COP28) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in the United Arab Emirates, starting on November 30 and stretching to December 12, ...
See Details:
Reality bites the green energy agenda
-
Sandigan orders Marcos Sr. pal to pay workers The Sandiganbayan has ordered the enforcement of a July 2023 ruling ordering a Marcos Sr. associate to pay a lumber company’s workers P2.1 million in damages as well as return 60 percent of their company’s shares and pay all unpaid benefits. The ...
See Details:
Sandigan orders Marcos Sr. pal to pay workers
-
DSWD: Shear line, LPA affect 1.2 million people; over 18,000 families evacuated MANILA, Philippines – More than 18,000 families have fled to evacuation centers across flood-affected regions in the country due to the impact of the shear line and low pressure area. Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) gave ...
See Details:
DSWD: Shear line, LPA affect 1.2 million people; over 18,000 families evacuated
-
-
MANILA, Philippines: The entire Luzon, including Metro Manila, is expected to experience isolated rain showers and thunderstorms as the northeast monsoon (“amihan”) and easterlies will be affecting the country over the next 24 hours, the state-run weather agency said on Tuesday. Weather specialist Patrick del Mundo of the Philippine Atmospheric ...
See Details:
Rain showers, thunderstorms over Luzon, including Metro Manila — Pagasa
-
Attention, Naruto fans! You can soon watch the famous anime’s live-action adaptation as it finally has a confirmed writer. According to a Variety report, the beloved manga and anime series is set to head to big screens for its live-action adaptation under Lionsgate. It will be written by Tasha Hao, ...
See Details:
'Naruto' live-action film adaptation is in the works
-
Attention, Naruto fans! You can soon watch the famous anime’s live-action adaptation as it finally has a confirmed writer. According to a Variety report, the beloved manga and anime series is set to head to big screens for its live-action adaptation under Lionsgate. It will be written by Tasha Hao, ...
See Details:
NASA Highlights Stingray Nebula
-
Attention, Naruto fans! You can soon watch the famous anime’s live-action adaptation as it finally has a confirmed writer. According to a Variety report, the beloved manga and anime series is set to head to big screens for its live-action adaptation under Lionsgate. It will be written by Tasha Hao, ...
See Details:
Manila's Lagusnilad underpass opens
-
Attention, Naruto fans! You can soon watch the famous anime’s live-action adaptation as it finally has a confirmed writer. According to a Variety report, the beloved manga and anime series is set to head to big screens for its live-action adaptation under Lionsgate. It will be written by Tasha Hao, ...
See Details:
China probes debt-ridden financial giant
-
Attention, Naruto fans! You can soon watch the famous anime’s live-action adaptation as it finally has a confirmed writer. According to a Variety report, the beloved manga and anime series is set to head to big screens for its live-action adaptation under Lionsgate. It will be written by Tasha Hao, ...
See Details:
China's VUCA situation
-
Attention, Naruto fans! You can soon watch the famous anime’s live-action adaptation as it finally has a confirmed writer. According to a Variety report, the beloved manga and anime series is set to head to big screens for its live-action adaptation under Lionsgate. It will be written by Tasha Hao, ...
See Details:
Unraveling the mystery that is diabetes
-
Attention, Naruto fans! You can soon watch the famous anime’s live-action adaptation as it finally has a confirmed writer. According to a Variety report, the beloved manga and anime series is set to head to big screens for its live-action adaptation under Lionsgate. It will be written by Tasha Hao, ...
See Details:
Bangladesh's nuke plant is not going to steal PH investments
OTHER NEWS
ALIW Awards Foundation Inc. President Alice H. Reyes has released the names of finalists for the 2023 Aliw Awards to be presented on Dec. 11, 2023, at the Manila Hotel ...
Read more »
WhatsApp Web gains the feature of single-view photos and videos (Photo: Unsplash) The WhatsApp Web, the desktop version of the popular messaging app from Meta, has received an update allowing ...
Read more »
Young athletes’ time to shine in Siklab Awards MANILA, Philippines — The future heroes of Philippine sports will be honored during the third Siklab Youth Sports Awards on Dec. 4 ...
Read more »
Graphics by Jannielyn Ann Bigtas A local government official said Monday that five to 10 barangays in Northern Samar are still isolated following the massive flooding in the area last ...
Read more »
DyipPay app lets you pay jeepney fare, book tricycles “Barya lang po sa umaga.” Everyone who rides jeepneys knows this rule: it may not be an actual law, but it’s ...
Read more »
Updated In-Season Tournament Bracket ahead of pool play finale Tuesday will mark the last day of pool play for the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament. From there, six first-place teams and ...
Read more »
PCG forms teams for maritime emergency response MANILA, Philippines — Recent incidents of fishermen lost in the waters off Southern Tagalog have prompted the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) to form ...
Read more »