04/10/2025
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 “𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗘𝘅𝘁𝗿𝗮 𝗘𝗠𝗜” 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗛𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗟𝗼𝗮𝗻𝘀
These days, many YouTubers and finfluencers urge borrowers to pay 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝘁𝗿𝗮 𝗘𝗠𝗜 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿 to close their home loan faster and “save lakhs in interest.” It sounds smart — but the reality is quite different when you understand the numbers clearly.
𝟭. 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗸 — 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗵
When you take a home loan, say ₹𝟱𝟬 𝗹𝗮𝗸𝗵 𝗮𝘁 𝟵% 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝟮𝟬 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀, your EMI comes to around ₹𝟰𝟱,𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵.
In the early years, most of your EMI goes toward interest since the principal is high; over time, as the principal falls, the interest share drops and the principal share rises.
👉 The lender isn’t charging “more interest” in the beginning or “less later.” It’s not a strategy — 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗮𝗺𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀.
𝟮. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲
Many influencers say, “You’ll pay ₹58 lakh interest on a ₹50 lakh loan!” That’s true but misleading—the 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝟵%. The amount looks huge only because it’s spread over 𝟮𝟬 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀.
𝟯. 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴
Let’s see this with real numbers.
𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗔: 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝘆 𝗲𝘅𝘁𝗿𝗮 𝗘𝗠𝗜 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿
• Suppose you pay one extra EMI of ₹45,000 each year.
• Over 20 years, you would pay ₹9 lakh extra (₹45,000 × 20).
• By doing so, you might close your loan about 𝟯.𝟱 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 and save roughly ₹𝟭𝟭–𝟭𝟮 𝗹𝗮𝗸𝗵 in interest cost.
𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗕: 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 ₹𝟰𝟱,𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗺𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱
• If you invest ₹45,000 annually in an equity mutual fund giving 𝟭𝟮% 𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻,
• After 20 years, your corpus will be about ₹𝟯𝟮 𝗹𝗮𝗸𝗵.
✅ 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁: You save ₹11 lakh by prepaying the loan, but you could earn ₹32 lakh by investing the same amount.
That’s an 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝗳 ₹𝟮𝟯 𝗹𝗮𝗸𝗵, without changing your EMI schedule.
𝟰. 𝗛𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗽𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗯𝘁𝘀
In India, home loan rates (8–9%) are much lower than long-term investment returns (12–14%) and even property appreciation (8–10%). Plus, inflation works in your favor — as your income grows over time, your fixed EMI becomes smaller in real terms.
𝗕𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗺 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗲
Paying one extra EMI every year may sound clever, but 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘆 can create far greater wealth.
💡 𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝘂𝗹𝗮: If your expected investment return > loan interest rate,
👉 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁. 𝗗𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝘆. Let your money compound and build your wealth — not just reduce your debt.
𝗗𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗿𝘂𝘀𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗻; 𝗿𝘂𝘀𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱.