Comparisons
X vs Y, answered honestly
Four side-by-side comparisons of decisions Indian households actually face — direct versus regular mutual fund plans, term versus endowment insurance, whether a home loan balance transfer pays for itself, and how to fund a five-year goal. Each one names the case where the other option wins, including where the option that earns us nothing is the better one.
- Direct vs regular mutual fund plans — the honest arithmetic — Same scheme, same manager, different expense ratio. What a regular plan costs, where a direct plan genuinely wins, and what switching triggers.
- Term insurance vs endowment — what each actually costs you — Term buys the most cover for the least premium. An endowment bundles a smaller cover with savings. Where each genuinely fits, and what surrender really returns.
- Home loan balance transfer — when it saves, and when it does not — The break-even arithmetic on a home loan balance transfer, the costs lenders do not lead with, and the cheaper move most borrowers never try first.
- SIP vs lump sum for a five-year goal — For a five-year goal the allocation question comes before the SIP-versus-lump-sum one. What each approach concentrates, what an STP does, and what nobody can tell you.
Reviewed by Ronik Gajjar, AMFI-registered Mutual Fund Distributor (ARN-354187).