Buying a house is one of the most significant financial decisions you will ever make. Most first-time house buyers could only realize their dreams of home ownership by applying for a home loan. A house loan is an excellent option if you don’t want to liquidate your funds or are low on cash. Banks assist in turning your dream of owning property into a reality by offering simple monthly payments and the freedom to select the repayment period that best suits your needs. But before you start applying for a home loan, it’s crucial to know everything about it; after all, it’s a commitment that will last for years until you can return the total loan amount. Here are five key factors to consider before you apply for a loan.
Do extensive research on the loan options
Conduct a thorough study of the options in the market before applying for a loan. Additionally, the three critical components of a loan should be your research parameters.
Down payment
EMIs
Tenure
Before submitting your loan application, research these three elements to help you choose a suitable loan from a top lender with competitive interest rates. The various types of loans include floating rate loans, fixed-rate loans, and combination loans. You need to analyze these options to find the best fit.
Enquire about the eligibility criteria
Lenders will initially determine your eligibility for a loan based on your income and ability to repay it. Other crucial factors include:
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Age
Qualification
Financial situation
Number of dependents
Spouse’s salary
Job security
Get your loan pre-approved
It is a good idea to have your loan pre-approved before you choose a house. Pre-approval lets you determine your precise spending limit and focus on your house search. Pre-approvals even facilitate speedier deal closing and better negotiation.
Check on affordability
Even though many different housing loan alternatives are available, you must first assess your affordability before applying. In addition to paying the fixed monthly EMIs, you should be able to change them to fit within your standard of living comfortably. Also, keep a consistent revenue stream to cover any unanticipated emergencies and take administrative costs into account the EMI you choose to pay each month. Therefore, while buying a home you like in a location you love is always a choice, being able to afford the loan is also crucial.
Total loan amount
According to the regulator’s definition, most lenders offer housing loans ranging from 75 to 90 per cent of the cost of the home, depending on your loan value. If you add a co-applicant, the lender may consider their income when determining the loan amount. Your adult kid, parent, or spouse could be the co-applicant.
When evaluating your housing loan eligibility, you should also consider its cost. In addition to processing fees, administrative costs, and prepayment penalties, the cost will include interest payments. The ideal prepayment penalty for adjustable/floating rate loans should be zero. Additionally, you ought to be able to refinance your loan for a cheaper interest rate with just a small charge.
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Some other important aspects to consider include:
EMI
You must determine the equal monthly installment (EMI) amount. Banks provide various EMI options to accommodate and meet the borrowers’ various needs. The amount of the down payment you make when buying a house significantly impacts the EMIs. The burden of making EMI payments decreases as the down payment amount increases. Additionally, it is best to ensure that the EMI amount you choose does not exceed 45% of your gross income.
The tenure
Your repayment tenure is the amount of time you need to repay the approved loan. Your EMIs and the repayment period are related. Depending on the customer’s eligibility, housing loans can be approved for up to 30 years. The burden of the EMI gets reduced with a longer tenure.
While choosing a longer tenure may result in lower EMI payments, it also negatively affects the home loan interest rate that will be charged, forcing you to double or triple the loan amount to pay the high-interest rate. Therefore, if you set a strict budget and have a steady and rising source of income, it is best to select a short payback period with higher EMIs. Such tenures have significantly reduced interest rates to encourage earlier payback.
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Documentation
To completely understand the loan application, thoroughly read the agreement documentation. A loan requires many documents, including KYC records, evidence of income, and ownership records. Verify that the lender has decentralized its storage facilities so that customers can quickly and easily retrieve documents when needed.
Conclusion
You may benefit from closely checking how the RBI norms are changing on many levels. You avoid further costs by paying the balance due earlier than agreed upon by foreclosing on your home loan. Although buying a home is a significant decision, it will also be your most rewarding experience. A loan is one of the best methods to support your home ownership.
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According to a 2023 report by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), only 52% of U.S. adults reported having life insurance. While we may not like to think about it, preparing for the future is crucial. Life insurance offers peace of mind, knowing your loved ones (or your business) will be financially secure in your absence.
This post will guide you through everything you need to know about life insurance planning, from understanding different types of policies to using them for both personal and business needs.
Read along so that you can plan a brighter tomorrow.
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Understanding Life Insurance
Life insurance is a contract between an individual (the insured) and an insurance company (the insurer). The insured pays regular premiums to the insurer, typically on a monthly or annual basis.
In return, the insurer promises to provide a lump-sum payment, known as the death benefit, to the designated beneficiaries (whether an individual or a business owner) named in the policy upon the insured’s death.
How does it work?
Understanding how life insurance works is crucial for both individuals and businesses. Below, we’ll outline the key steps involved in a life insurance policy, from purchasing to the payout process, ensuring financial protection for you and your loved ones, or continuity for your business.
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Policy Purchase: You buy a policy from an insurance company, stating how much coverage you want and who will receive the benefit when you pass away.
Premium Payments: You pay premiums regularly to the insurance company to keep the policy active. This can be done monthly, yearly, or as a lump sum.
Coverage Period: As long as you keep paying premiums, the policy stays active. It can cover a set period of time (term life insurance) or your entire life (permanent life insurance).
Death Benefit Payout: When you pass away, your beneficiaries file a claim with the insurer, providing proof of death.
Claims Processing: The insurer reviews the claim and, if approved, pays out the death benefit to your beneficiaries.
Beneficiary Use: Your beneficiaries can use the money to cover expenses like funeral costs, debts, or daily living expenses, providing them with financial stability during a tough time.
Types of Life Insurance Policies
Here’s a simple overview of various life insurance options, suitable for both individuals and businesses.
Individual Life Insurance
Term Life Insurance: Covers you for a certain time, like 10 or 20 years. Good for things like paying off a mortgage or supporting your family if something happens to you.
Whole Life Insurance: It covers you for your whole life. It has a savings part that grows over time, but it costs more than term life insurance.
Universal Life Insurance: Similar to whole life insurance but more flexible. You can change how much you pay and how much goes into savings.
Variable Universal Life Insurance: This lets you invest part of your premiums in the stock market, so it can grow more, but it’s riskier.
Guaranteed Universal Life Insurance: Gives you fixed growth on your savings, so you know what you’ll get back.
Final Expense Insurance: Covers things like funeral costs so your family doesn’t have to pay.
Business Life Insurance
Buy-Sell Agreements: Help businesses if an owner dies. It pays for the owner’s share so the business can keep running.
Group Term Life Insurance: Businesses can offer life insurance to their employees as part of their benefits package.
Executive Bonus Programs: Businesses can use this to give their top employees extra money and life insurance.
Estate Planning: Businesses can use life insurance to plan for passing the business on to someone else when the owner dies.
Benefits of Life Insurance
More than 100 million Americans are uninsured or underinsured when it comes to life insurance, If they understand the benefits as given below, they can understand how important it is to have life insurance, whether in businesses or for individuals.
For Individuals
Life insurance is vital for individuals to secure their finances and provide for their families in case of unexpected events. Let’s look at how individuals benefit from life insurance.
Financial Protection: Life insurance provides a financial safety net for loved ones in the event of the policyholder’s death, ensuring they are financially secure.
Debt Coverage: It helps pay off outstanding debts such as mortgages, loans, and credit cards, relieving the burden on family members.
Income Replacement: Life insurance replaces lost income, helping beneficiaries maintain their standard of living and meet ongoing financial obligations.
Estate Planning: It facilitates the transfer of wealth to heirs, ensuring smooth estate settlement and minimizing estate taxes.
For Businesses
Businesses need life insurance to stay financially stable and keep operations running smoothly during unforeseen circumstances. Let’s see how life insurance helps businesses.
Key Person Coverage: Life insurance protects businesses against financial losses resulting from the death of key employees or partners, covering expenses like recruitment and training.
Business Continuity: It provides funds to cover operating expenses, debts, and salaries, ensuring business continuity during the transition period after the death of an owner or key employee.
Buy-Sell Agreements: Life insurance funds buy-sell agreements, allowing surviving partners to buy out the deceased partner’s share of the business, ensuring smooth ownership transitions.
Loan Protection: Life insurance can be used to secure business loans, providing lenders with assurance that debts will be repaid in the event of the policyholder’s death.
Employee Benefits: Offering life insurance as an employee benefit helps attract and retain top talent, enhancing employee satisfaction and loyalty.
Using Life Insurance
Life insurance is a valuable tool for both businesses and individuals, helping to meet financial needs and offer peace of mind. Let’s see how it works in different situations.
Life Insurance in Business
Businesses use life insurance to keep running smoothly, protect against financial challenges, and attract talented employees. Here’s how it helps businesses.
Business Continuity Planning: Life insurance can ensure that if something happens to a business owner, like their passing away, the business can keep running smoothly. It provides money to cover expenses and debts so the business can continue operating.
Funding Buy-Sell Agreements: When business partners have an agreement that says what happens if one of them dies, life insurance can provide the money needed to buy out the deceased partner’s share of the business. This ensures that the business can carry on without financial strain.
Estate Tax Planning: Life insurance can be used to help pay for taxes that may be owed when someone passes away and leaves behind a business or other assets. It ensures that the business doesn’t have to be sold off to cover these taxes, preserving it for the next generation.
Corporate Tax Planning Services: Life insurance can offer tax benefits for businesses. Money invested in certain types of life insurance policies can grow without being taxed, and the benefits paid out to beneficiaries are often tax-free. Corporate tax planning services help businesses take full advantage of these benefits.
Attracting and Retaining Talent: Offering life insurance as part of employee benefits can make a business more attractive to employees. It shows that the company cares about their well-being and wants to help protect their families financially. This can help the business attract and keep talented employees.
Life Insurance in Individual Planning
Individuals use life insurance to protect their families, prepare for retirement, and leave a meaningful legacy. Here’s how it helps individuals.
Financial Protection: Life insurance provides financial security for loved ones by covering living expenses and debts in the event of the policyholder’s death.
Income Replacement: Life insurance replaces lost income for primary breadwinners, ensuring that their family’s standard of living is maintained.
Legacy Planning: Life insurance allows individuals to leave behind a meaningful legacy for their beneficiaries, whether it’s providing an inheritance or supporting charitable causes.
Supplemental Retirement Income: Certain life insurance policies offer cash value accumulation, providing additional income during retirement to enhance financial security.
Health Benefits: Some policies offer benefits for terminal illnesses, providing financial support for medical expenses and treatments during challenging times.
Estate Planning: Life insurance helps cover estate taxes and other expenses, ensuring a smooth transfer of wealth to beneficiaries and preserving assets for future generations.
Tax Efficiency: Life insurance offers tax benefits, with the death benefit generally being income tax-free for beneficiaries, providing tax-efficient wealth transfer.
Conclusion
Life insurance planning is essential, but it can be complex. Knowing what you need can give you and your family comfort. Whether you’re just starting to look into life insurance or thinking about changing your current plan, it’s smart to stay updated and ask for advice.
Remember, a staggering 30% of Americans realize the importance of life insurance but haven’t yet taken action. Don’t be part of that statistic; explore your options today for a secure tomorrow with us.
The Forex trading market is a dynamic environment where efficiency and effectiveness are key to success. AlfaXM emerges as a prominent platform, offering a combination of easy-to-use interfaces with advanced technological capabilities, designed to enhance trading experiences for investors of all levels.
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Nowadays, the proliferation of fake videos on stock market operations is increasing and getting viral. In the wake of this, the NSE and the National Stock Exchange have issued certain guidelines on these, reported Livemint.
NSE has extended a stern caution to those investors who make fake videos purportedly recommending stocks by showcasing Shri Ashishkumar Chauhan.
Notably, Shri Ashishkumar Chauhan is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NSE. NSE said, “NSE in a few investment and advisory audio and video clips falsely created using technology.
The National Stock Exchange (@NSEIndia) cautioned investors on #fake audio and #videos of their MD- CEO @ashishchauhan recommending stocks — which are circulating on social media.
Such videos seem to have been created using sophisticated technologies to imitate the voice and facial expressions of Shri Ashishkumar Chauhan, MD & CEO of NSE.”
As per TimesNow, the national stock exchange has also requested investors to verify information, exercise vigilance and only trust what appears on official NSE channels.
Information can also be verified from www.nseindia.com, the official website. Other official social media handles include, “Twitter: @NSEIndia, Facebook: @NSE India, Instagram: @nseindia, LinkedIn: @NSE India, and YouTube: NSE India.”
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Ashishkumar Chauhan, the MD and CEO wrote on X, “Caution – clarification on fake audio/ videos of NSE MD and CEO recommending specific stocks – circulating on social media for last few days.”
This statement is the follow-up of the surfacing of the manipulated video and audio clips regarding stock recommendations.
These fake videos make use of advanced and sophisticated technology which mimic the MD’s voice and facial expressions. Thus, this creates an alarming and misleading situation for unsuspecting investors.
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NSE Employees Cannot Recommend Stocks
Thus, investors are advised not to fall for such fraudulent content and take investment decisions. NSE also clarified that its employees are “not authorized” to recommend or endorse any specific stocks.
NSE has also asked online platforms to take back potential deceptive videos. Meanwhile, the public and investors are requested to verify the authenticity of information and exercise caution before taking any wrong step which may cause financial loss and personal harm.
