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'Help! I'm Stuck In Rs 15 Lakh Debt'

Last updated on: March 12, 2025 09:14 IST

Do you have mutual fund and personal finance-related queries?
Please ask your questions HERE and rediffGURU Janak Patel, a certified financial planner accredited by the Financial Planning Standards Board, India and CEO and founder of InfiniumWealth, will answer them.

Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com
 

BK: Hi, I have 10 CR new surplus coming in next 6-12 months. I have worked hard and would like to take it easy at this point. I would like this corpus to last in perpetuity and leave behind a good amount for kids.
I would like to invest this in a way that delivers 3 lakh per month inflation ( assume 5-6%) adjusted income and also grow the portfolio/corpus in longer run.
Assume that this portfolio will be there forever for next generations as well. Please advise a) if this is possible b) If the 3 lakh/per month expectation is too high/low c) provide details how I should approach this. d) Would you be able to prioject based on practical experience how much it will be in 30 years' time? Thanks so much

The queries you have raised are simple but the solutions to them can be many. I will cover the important ones -- your main objectives of regular monthly income and also have a corpus that you can leave behind.

So before my response I will make a few assumptions along with your inputs

1. You want to have 3 Lakh per month income to be adjusted by inflation each year.

2. You expect to receive above income for the next 30 years.

3. Return on the corpus invested will be an average of 10% pa.

4. Corpus to last beyond 30 years for your children.

5. No other dependencies to be serviced through your corpus.

Response a) Yes it is very much possible.

Response b) 3 lakh per month has to take into account your lifestyle expenses. It may seem too high for someone or too low for another, so it's more relevant for you to measure it against your own expenses today. Do note that with time, and also as you indicated you want to take it easy, this number if its valid today may change once you take it easy.

Response c) One of the simple solution to achieve your goals/objectives can be to split your 10 crore corpus into 2 amounts and invest them separately.

1. Invest 5.5 crore in Mutual fund schemes - you can further split this into 2~3 schemes for diversification and risk management. Consider between Conservative hybrid, Balanced advantage and Aggressive hybrid funds which can provide an annual average return of 10% (consolidated).

After a year of staying invested, start a SWP (systematic withdrawal plan) from these MF schemes to withdraw 3 lakh per month and there after increase this by 5% every year.

This corpus will last you between 25 to 30 years.

2. Invest the remaining 4.5 crore separately in Mutual fund schemes - again this can be put into a portfolio of different schemes. This needs to be well balanced for investment for the next 30 years. This is where the long time duration of investment can permit you to take a bit of risk and generate good wealth.

At an average of 10% to 12% returns on the portfolio, expect the portfolio value to be between 78 crore and 125 crore after 30 years.

Response d) Projections provided above with assumed rate of returns.

Please note in the above, tax implications have not been taken into account. Also some important and crucial aspects need to be considered -- health insurance being the primary one. You should get yourself a good health cover for the remainder of your life, if you have one, check if it needs to be enhanced or if its sufficient.

Hence I would recommend, you to hire/consult a Certified Financial Planner who can help you build your portfolio with recommended products and schemes that will meet your objectives. A CFP can provide a customized plan to achieve your goals and will also provide you alternatives/options and highlight the pros/cons for each.

SANDEEP: I am currently investing 28000/- in following mf . Kindly suggest me whether i am investing in right MF or not.
Suggest if to be switched in to which MF HDFC LARGE AND MID CAP FUND - REGULAR PLAN - GROWTH SIP Amount 5000 HDFC NIPPON INDIA SMALL CAP FUND - GROWTH PLAN - GROWTH OPTION SIP Amount 5000 HDFC LARGE CAP FUND - REGULAR PLAN - GROWTH SIP Amount 3000 HDFC FOCUSED 30 FUND - REGULAR PLAN - GROWTH SIP Amount 3000 NIPPON INDIA POWER AND INFRA FUND- GROWTH PLAN-GROWTH OPTION SIP Amount 3000 HDFC MID-CAP OPPORTUNITIES FUND - GROWTH OPTION SIP Amount 3000 ICICI PRUDENTIAL INFRASTRUCTURE FUND - GROWTH SIP Amount 3000 INVESCO INDIA INFRASTRUCTURE FUND - GROWTH SIP Amount 3000

Your portfolio consists of multiple actively managed funds across different categories. While it has a good mix of large-cap, mid-cap, and small-cap funds, there are areas where adjustments can improve diversification and risk management.

Strengths of Your Portfolio

Concerns in Your Portfolio

Recommended Portfolio Adjustments

Final Insights

Jitu: In early 2018, I had faced some financial problems (monthly Rs. 10,000 deficit) as I was working with a public sector enterprise. At that time, I was searching for a loan and got an agency that can provide Rs. 10,000 as Payday loan (monthly basis maximum 35 days) and rate of interest was 1% per day. These loan products were from NBFCs. I took this loan and this was the starting point.
Due to my financial problems, I started taking these type loans from various agencies and rate of interest 0.7%-1% per day. In 2022, I had almost 15 payday loans amounting Rs. 10 lakh.
After that, I have been applying for a loan from almost all banks and NBFCs to close these paydays, but nobody is able to provide a loan due all payday loans have been shown in CIBIL as well as few bounces of my personal loan I had already with Kotak Bank.
Now the situation is like that I have more than 25 payday loans amounting to more than Rs. 15 lakh. Last 2 years I have been applying for a personal loan to close these but no banks and NBFCs are not providing.
Every month I am giving and taking payday loans and the interest amount is too high. I have a Tata AIA pension policy as well as PF, both cannot be surrendered at this moment.
Now, the major issue is how to overcome this financial mess I did. I don't have any options left at this moment.
So I would request you if anybody can provide me assistance through your sources / channels to solve my financial problem.
I can return the amount on a monthly installment basis and give my Tata AIA pension policy as well as PF documents for security. I have been working in an engineering consultancy firm and monthly income is almost Rs. 2 lakh.

In summary, you have 15 lakh loans at 1% per day interest (= 365% per annum). No options to borrow from any other organised sources like Bank/NBFC. So monthly Interest is 4.5 lakh.

Monthly Income is 2 lakh.

This is called a Debt Trap, where your income is less than your outflow (debt), so you are in a negative balance always and keep borrowing to fill the gap. No point in going into the history of the situation but I hope this has been a big life lesson for you.

Borrowing against you Pension policy can be considered but depends on the company and note that this will be at a high interest rate.

Borrowing from PF funds is only under certain situations (e.g. illness, education, marriage) and so even that is ruled out.

I assume you have already considered all/any asset you may own to repay.

The solution cannot be a very simple one. But I can recommend a couple of options which you can see if they help. You plan should be simple:

1. Find a source of funds to repay your current loans

2. Stay with bare minimum requirement for next few years and repay maximum amount towards new loan

3. Do not take any new loans and stay on track for next few years, no matter what.

With a salary of 2 Lakh, you should take a hard look at your living expenses and cut out all except the basic necessities. At least on paper come up with a number that you can discuss with prospective lenders mentioned below. Give them confidence of your ability to pay back every month with a realistic number e.g. over 1 lakh per month. Make this as high as you can make it. Make compromises everywhere possible and evaluate each expense to see what you can eliminate for the next couple of years, except food and absolutely basic needs, compromise on everything else. And ensure you make this work no matter what. You will have to be strong willed to achieve this and make it work.

Check with any close friends/family members/relatives who will trust you and provide you with some loan and provide you with time to repay. Offer to pay them interest which is higher than FD but reasonable for you and you can go as high as 20% per annum. At 20% you can pay back 55~60K per month for 3 years and payback the loan with interest.

Assuming you have a bank account for direct salary deposit, approach the bank and explain your situation truthfully to them and request an overdraft/loan and offer them to recover an agreed amount at an agreed interest rate from your account directly as soon as your salary is deposited. Again the interest rate will be high but if this works, you will be on your way to recovery. Even if they offer an interest rate of 30%~40% per annum and recover in 3 years, your EMI will be around 62K~70K per month.

Approach your employer and discuss if a loan can be provided to you at a reasonable rate of interest and recovered from your salary each month. If you have been employed with them for over a year or longer, and if they consider to extend a loan this may be the best solution you can get. You can offer to sign a contract for this (stay with employer for a period or until loan is paid up).

Is there any other source of funds you can approach with a similar proposal then do so, as long as you can get a chance to payoff your current set of loans and have a manageable EMI amount to pay back over the next few years, just take the best option and keep every desire aside and stay focused on getting back on track.

Please note that borrowing from an alternate source is not going to work if you take a loan and relax after that. You have already impacted your CIBIL score which makes lenders stay away. Now your top priority will be to find a source of funds at reasonably high interest rate between 20% to 40% resulting in an EMI of 55K to 70K for 3 years, and ensure you do not default the payments and clear this ASAP. If you can pay higher amount each month, then do that and get out of these loans as quickly as possible.

With honesty and sincerity if you continue to stay on track, you can eventually start coming back to normal life where you can plan your expenses and save and invest too. But do remember to live within your means and save as much as possible. Over time build back your CIBIL score for future requirements.

Hope this is helpful in some way.


Disclaimer: This article is meant for information purposes only. This article and information do not constitute a distribution, an endorsement, an investment advice, an offer to buy or sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy or sell any securities/schemes or any other financial products/investment products mentioned in this QnA or an attempt to influence the opinion or behaviour of the investors/recipients.

Any use of the information/any investment and investment related decisions of the investors/recipients are at their sole discretion and risk. Any advice herein is made on a general basis and does not take into account the specific investment objectives of the specific person or group of persons. Opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice.

rediffGURU JANAK PATEL