Friday 23 March 2018

Prepayment vs investment - My dilemma

Watching the sensex going down every day has put me in a dilemma. At the start of the year, I decided to prepay my home loan since the market was very high and frankly I couldn't understand why. So I decided to not invest and instead use that money to actively prepay my home loan. My calculations showed that if I do that I would be able to close it by this year and without any prepayment by 2022.

I made two part payments towards my home loan so far and my current loan end date is Dec 2020. Seeing the sensex going down, I am evaluating 3 options

1. Stop prepaying and run the loan to its course and close by Dec 2020. Resume investing in MF.
2. Invest 50% of my savings in MF and use the other 50% to prepay loan. I can see this is outright stupid and is more towards FMO.
3. Stick to my plan of prepaying as of now and decide later depending on how sensex goes.

I am leaning towards option #3 now though my brain says option#1.

My reasons for option #3

1. Want to get rid of my home loan and be debt free. This is more towards peace of mind and comfort feeling.
2. With Indian elections in 2019, I am thinking the sensex will keep going down till the elections. Also I do not see BJP forming the government next term and so it will result in political instability which in turn will impact the market. And if I start investing agressively from Jan 2019, I should still be able to ride some of the market downturn due to elections.

So as of now my plan of repaying home loan continues, and I will revisit my stand when sensex goes below 30k.

Till then, continue my dumb but emotionally comfortable travel of prepayment.

Give me also springs of water!



Saturday 17 March 2018

Mid sprint review and smart goal 1

Spent some time in looking at my finances and where I am currently. 

I have a 
Term insurance
Medical insurance
positive net worth - In case of a job loss, I can repay my homeloan and car lease with my pf and gratuity
Have a roof over my head


My plan forward
Repay my home loan by this calendar year or at the max by the financial year end March 2019. I will not get influenced by stock market movements and start investing in MF. Will continue repaying my HL aggressively. Will repay as and when I get money and not hold on to it, in the hope of saving tax or earning more interest. Do not give in to shopping temptations but stick to the plans and budget I have made for the year.

Let's see how it goes. 

Give me also springs of water!

February 2018 status update

Short month. My husband landed a contract job this month. I am so thankful to God for this job. Even though it is for six months only, I see it as a glimmer of hope in my home loan repayment journey.

Had an engagement to attend out of station and tickets to book for another engagement in April. Travelled by sleeper class in Feb and booked sleeper class ticket for April as well. But then realised it may not work out in April, since we will be travelling with our relatives. Call it peer pressure but I gave in and cancelled my sleeper class and booked third a/c. Lost some money in ticket cancellation.

Other than this messed up ticket booking, managed to keep expenses in check.

Emotionally it was a roller coaster month. One of my schoolmate and his elder daughter died in a two wheeler accident and his wife was hospitalized in critical condition and finally passed away in March. They are survived by a little 3 year old angel who does not even realise what has happened. Was heart broken.

One of my office mate had a personal problem with her husband and was on the verge of issuing a divorce notice but finally the problems were all sorted out and they are back to living together.

Life is not just money and God is sovereign and we can never question him. We all run each day with hope but ultimately it is God's will that prevails. That doesn't give us an excuse to live a life without care or planning for future and so my journey in getting my house in order continues.

Give me also springs of water!


January 2018 status update

January was again a high spend month. A big credit card payment from the Christmas purchases and couple of weddings and guests at home with lunch/dinner made all my budget go wary. To give myself a boost, I made a part prepayment on my HL. Made withdrawal from my MF, since it was at a very high valuation and some money on my own made this prepayment.

Hopefully February will be better. Give me also springs of water.