Best Practices for Efficient Home Loan Repayment Paying off a home loan efficiently is all about minimizing interest costs and shortening the loan term. Financial experts emphasize using any extra cash (bonuses, incentives or savings) to prepay your loan principal whenever possible. Unlike other debts, home loan interest is charged on the outstanding balance, so reducing the principal early can save a huge amount of interest over the life of the loan. In this post we’ll walk through a detailed example – a ₹50 lakh loan at 9% for 30 years – to show exactly how much you can save by making a large lump-sum prepayment early on. We’ll compare the standard repayment schedule to one where ₹20 lakh is paid off within the first 10 years, and summarize best strategies to maximize savings. Understanding EMIs and Amortization A home loan is usually repaid by a fixed Equated Monthly Installment (EMI) , which covers both interest and principal. The EMI is calculated by the formula: EMI ...