Ask the expert: CIBIL score won’t affect loans on jewellery

Due to some unexpected financial losses, my CIBIL score has gone down to 569. I need money through a personal loan. Is there any hope?
Unfortunately, it is very unlikely that you will be able to get an unsecured personal loan from any lender. There could be two solutions – One, take a loan against jewellery or any other movable asset you might have such as shares, national saving certificates (NSCs), mutual fund units, bonds and insurance policies with high surrender values. Such loans will be available despite the low score and prompt repayment on such loans will also assist you in improving your credit score. The second solution could be that you get a family member or a close friend – who has a good credit score and is willing to lend you the borrowed money – to borrow the money and then lend it to you. Of course, the best option remains loans from family and friends who will be far more flexible in adjusting repayments for unexpected events.

I already have a home loan running and am now getting converted into an NRI. What should be my procedure? What are the steps I should take before leaving the country?
Please convert your savings bank account into a non-resident ordinary account (NRO) by informing your bank about it in writing. Also, inform the home loan provider about your new status. You can continue to make payment through the existing savings bank account – which will turn into an NRO account – or by remittance from overseas directly to your home loan provider or to a new non-resident external account that you open.

I am Bhavik, 24, and my income is `3.5 lakh per annum (p.a). I have bought Tata AIG Maha Life Gold as a long-term plan and am paying `25,000 per year as premium. Is it a good plan?
It’s a whole life retirement plan from TATA AIG. The returns on such plans will be in the region of 5-6% p.a. and most of the insurance-cum-investment plans offer returns in this range only. Always, keep your insurance and investments separate. By doing this, you will not only enjoy good insurance cover, but good returns from investments. It is good that you are planning for your retirement, but it is always advisable to take professional advice from a certified financial planner to calculate your retirement corpus need and investment made to achieve the corpus keeping in mind your risk appetite.

I am Kamal Gupta from Delhi and want to know while taking an insurance product, what should I look at and is it better to purchase a term policy than an endowment one?
As mentioned above, you would do well to separate your insurance and investment needs. So, it is good to buy a term insurance than an endowment policy because the latter rarely gives returns in excess of 5-6%. A professional’s advice here always helps. Your insurance cover depends on your assets, liability, loans and your financial goals, so take a term insurance cover of 10-12 times your annual income. Nowadays, online term policies are cheaper, so it is advisable to buy them. While buying the insurance, disclose all the health related facts to the insurance company.
The writer is CEO, Apnapaisa.com, an online marketplace for loans, insurance and investments.

He can be reached at www.facebook.com/apnapaisa