HOW TO AVOID LOAN TRAPS...a primer

A lot of people I know are now LOSING (to the banks, of course) a lot of their hard-earned money. This is thanks to the floating interest rate skyrocketing. And most of these folks took money for home loans and other loans in this consumerist world. A lot of them are rich...

But one guy,for example, a rich trader in my neighborhood, has lost all peace of mind & losing almost 40% of what he earns.
From what I gather from him, it's the other way, around :

The bankers are laughing all the way to (or shall I say, at) the banks

The more I read about Warren Buffet, world's richest man, and the most successful investor (though his 'guru' Benjamin was a theorist) + George Soros + Rakesh Jhunjhunwala & others...I'm convinced of this :

• A loan should only be taken at a fixed rate when the country's inflation rate is low, and hence lending rate is low. One should compare the present rate when taking loan to the historic rates upto 10 years back.
  
• If one takes a floating loan in a fluctuating economy, well, you get even get ready to pay 1.5 times to 2 times your asset value you are after...be it a home, or a fancy car, or whatever.
• Bankers & investors investing in Bank Sector Mutual Funds make money....professionals lose all the money to the banks.
• Never give in to Greed. Shanbhag, yet another legendary Indian investment advisor, always cautions against taking loans of high value...like for homes, or foreign education loans 'n' stuff.

I received a few calls after my last SMS 'es...2 of them very angry at me...it's a case of transferred anger at the economy....both of them have taken floating rate loans when the rate was low.

Floating rate interest, connected to the economy, a country's centralised Bank's health, Stock Markets (now Global, BTW), GDP, Forex Reserves, other reserves, investor psychology, commodity price import/export value(like crude oil) & so many factors.....is impossible to predict...at least by me.

Folks....hope you read my other blogs on global stock markets 'n' stuff to get the Macro economic idea. Macro > Midi > Micro > personal investment. That's how it goes.