Every strategy receives the exact same extra monthly cash. The difference is when and how it's deployed:

• Full Invest puts 100% of extra cash into the market from month 1 — it gets the longest compounding window of all strategies.
• Hybrid only invests the split portion (e.g. 40%) during the loan. The rest reduces principal faster, closing the loan early and unlocking a large post-payoff reinvestment window.

Full Invest deploys more into the market during the loan, not less. Its disadvantage is that it never frees up the EMI — it keeps paying the bank until the final month with no post-loan reinvestment bonus. That trade-off is exactly what this tool quantifies.

Most bank calculators assume your monthly payment never changes. This tool simulates your loan month by month, so it correctly handles:

• Extra EMI / year — a lump-sum paid once a year that chips directly into the principal.
• EMI Hike % per year — gradually increasing your monthly payment each year, as your income grows.

Both close your loan earlier than a standard calculator predicts. If you set both to zero, the results will match your bank's amortisation schedule exactly.

EMI Hike % gradually increases your fixed monthly payment each year — a 5% hike means next year you pay 5% more per month. Because the extra amount goes directly to principal, it dramatically shortens your loan tenure and cuts total interest paid.

Use it to model salary-linked step-ups. Set it to 0 if your income is fixed or you want a conservative baseline. Even a modest 3–5% annual hike can shave 5–8 years off a 25-year loan. Find it in the Inputs panel.

The tool converts your gross return using: Post-Tax CAGR = Gross × (1 − Tax Rate). Enter the rate that reflects your actual after-tax situation:

• India equity funds (LTCG 10% above ₹1.25 L/yr): 12% gross → ~10.8% post-tax.
• US long-term capital gains (~15% bracket): 11% gross → ~9.35% post-tax.
• Interest-bearing deposits (30% tax bracket): 7% gross → ~4.9% post-tax.

The default 10% post-tax at 15% tax implies roughly 11.8% gross — realistic for diversified equity over a 15–25 year horizon.

Yes — all three strategies are evaluated over the same time horizon (your original loan tenure). Net Worth = capital deployed + post-tax investment returns. See the scenario cards for a side-by-side comparison and the charts for the growth curve over time.

For strategies that close the loan early, the freed-up cash (EMI + extra) is reinvested for the remaining months. This ensures the comparison is on equal footing: every dollar is accounted for through the end of the original tenure. The Cashflow Streams section breaks down exactly where each stream comes from.

Interest Saved = interest you would have paid on the full original term minus what you actually paid. Full Invest never reduces the principal faster — the loan always runs its complete natural term regardless of EMI hikes (the hike increment goes straight into the portfolio). So Interest Saved is always zero for Invest.

Prepay and Hybrid close the loan early by channelling extra cash into the principal, generating genuine interest savings on the outstanding balance. See the Breakdown Table for a line-by-line comparison.

Nominal NW is the actual amount you'll hold at tenure end — the raw number. Real NW discounts that amount by your inflation rate to show its purchasing power in today's money.

Real NW is the fairer benchmark: a nominal gain of 3× over 25 years at 5% inflation is equivalent to only ~1.2× in real terms. The gap between strategies often narrows significantly in real terms — inflation clips everyone equally.

The matrix sweeps two variables simultaneously: your loan interest rate (rows) and investment CAGR (columns). For each combination, it asks: which strategy wins? The coloured cell shows the winner at that pair of assumptions.

• The bold-outlined cell is your current live scenario.
• A wide band of one colour = a robust, stable decision.
• A narrow band = your outcome is fragile to small changes in assumptions.

Use it to stress-test: if the CAGR drops from 12% to 8%, does Prepay suddenly dominate? The gradient of colour shifts tells you exactly how much margin you have. Jump to Sensitivity Matrix →

The Decision Banner at the top of results shows the mathematically recommended strategy and the key reason why. But numbers are only half the story — click "Take the Holistic Quiz" inside the banner to layer in your risk tolerance, life stage, job stability and psychology. The quiz re-ranks the strategies based on your personal context.

The scenario cards (🏠 Prepay, 📈 Invest, ⚖️ Hybrid) give you a side-by-side snapshot — net worth, interest saved, loan closure date, and real (inflation-adjusted) value. The winner is highlighted with a crown. Hover or tap a card for a detailed tooltip comparing it against the other two.

Open the Visual Comparison section. It has four chart views you can toggle:

• NW Growth — net worth growth curves over the full tenure with loan-close markers.
• Net Worth — final net worth bar chart for a quick comparison.
• Composition — how each strategy's net worth is split between capital and gains.
• Interest Paid — total interest paid by each strategy.

The Cashflow Streams section breaks down every cash flow — EMI, extra cash, bonus EMI lumps, freed-months reinvestment — row by row. Switch between Prepay, Invest and Hybrid tabs to see where every unit of currency goes, along with how much each stream compounds to at tenure end.

Yes — the Year-End Snapshots table shows portfolio value, capital invested and post-tax net worth at the end of every year, all three strategies side by side. Loan-close milestones are highlighted so you can see exactly when things change.

The FV Waterfall decomposes net worth into: capital invested, gross growth, tax paid and final net worth — year by year. It's a waterfall-style view: you see exactly how each year's contribution stacks up and compounds over time.

Yes — the Amortisation Schedule shows every single month: opening balance, principal paid, interest paid, extra prepayment, and closing balance. Switch tabs to see Prepay, Invest or Hybrid. Year rows are collapsible so you can drill into specific years. Each row also shows the calendar date.

Use the FV Calculator. Drag the slider or pick a month/year to see each strategy's net worth at any point in time — not just the end. The three cards update live, and you can see exactly when one strategy overtakes another.

Scroll down to Beyond the Numbers — it lists the financial pros and cons, psychological pros and cons, best/worst scenarios, and personality fit for each strategy. Then take the Holistic Quiz (button in the decision banner) — it asks about your risk tolerance, career stability, sleep-at-night factor and more, then re-ranks the strategies for your life.

All inputs are in the Inputs panel on the left:

• Loan parameters — amount, rate, tenure, start date.
• Extra Cash / month — flat monthly amount available for prepay or invest, with an optional annual step-up %.
• Hybrid Split — slider to control the prepay/invest ratio.
• Extra EMI / year — lump-sum bonus payments (e.g. from a bonus), applied in a specific month.
• EMI Hike % / year — annual increase in your EMI commitment.
• Market assumptions — CAGR, inflation, capital gains tax rate.

Every change updates all results instantly. Use the Sensitivity Matrix to see how robust your conclusion is to changes in rate or CAGR.

Open the Detailed Breakdown table — it puts every key metric (interest paid, interest saved, net worth, real net worth, IRR, loan duration, freed months) in one table with all three strategies side by side. The winning value in each row is highlighted.