Two Futures
One decision, followed down two paths. In Future A you borrow and have the thing today. In Future B you wait, and pay the same instalment to yourself. Same person, same cash, same months.
It is a fair fight. Both futures part with exactly the same money. Only where it goes, and when the purchase arrives, is different.
Waiting does not win by default. If the purchase earns, or simply matters enough, borrowing comes out ahead. The tool tells you how much it would have to matter.
Nothing leaves your device. The numbers are worked out in your browser by the same tested engine as the calculators.
These are the numbers from a story. Read it first, or change anything below.
Computed from the inputs
Borrowing gets the phone today. Waiting gets it in month 13, for ₹66,909.
Future A: borrow today
- Loan
- ₹59,999
- Instalment
- ₹3,771.32
- Interest
- ₹7,885
- Fee
- ₹1,200
- Cost of borrowing
- ₹9,085
Future B: wait and save
- Starts with
- ₹16,200
- Saves each month
- ₹3,771.32
- Can buy in
- month 13
- Price then
- ₹66,909
- Cost of borrowing
- ₹0
Both futures part with the same cash: ₹84,084 over 1 year 6 months. Future B starts with the fee as well, because Future A pays it on day one.
Step through the months
- Future A at month 18
- Has the phone. Still owes ₹0.
- Savings: ₹0
- The phone would resell for about ₹43,924
- Future B at month 18
- Has the phone. Owes nothing.
- Savings: ₹19,970
- The phone would resell for about ₹57,669
Savings, plus resale value, plus anything the phone earned, minus debt.
Future A, solid lineFuture B, dashed lineNumbers along the bottom are months.
Show these figures as a table
| When | A owes | A savings | A holds | B savings | B holds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month 1 | ₹57,028 | ₹0 | ₹15,775 | ₹20,052 | ₹20,052 |
| Month 6 | ₹41,566 | ₹0 | ₹21,183 | ₹39,605 | ₹39,605 |
| Year 1 | ₹21,608 | ₹0 | ₹30,891 | ₹63,721 | ₹63,721 |
| Month 13 | ₹18,125 | ₹0 | ₹32,837 | ₹901 | ₹67,810 |
| Month 18 | ₹0 | ₹0 | ₹43,924 | ₹19,970 | ₹77,639 |
What the money says, and what it doesn't
After 1 year 6 months, Future B holds ₹33,715 more than Future A. That figure does not count the 1 year 1 month in which Future A had the phone and Future B went without.
The two come out level if having the phone sooner is worth ₹2,593 a month to you, in income, savings or anything else you would put a price on. Above that, borrowing is ahead. Below it, waiting is.
Only you know that number. The calculation cannot.
Assumptions and limits
- Both futures start with the same cash and set aside the same amount every month. In Future A it goes to the lender; in Future B, to savings.
- The loan rate, the savings rate, the price change and the resale loss are all held constant. None of them is in real life.
- Savings interest is compounded monthly and is not guaranteed. It is not an investment forecast.
- The loan is assumed to be approved, on these terms. Approval is never certain.
- Left out: tax, insurance, running costs, late fees, changes in your income, and everything that is not money.
- This is an illustration from your inputs, not advice about what you should do.
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How the comparison is made
Most borrow-or-save comparisons cheat without meaning to. They compare a loan against paying cash you do not have, or they let the saver keep money the borrower has to spend. Two Futures fixes the cash and varies only the path.
- Both futures begin with the same cash. Future A uses it for a down payment and the processing fee. Future B keeps it.
- Each month both set aside the loan instalment. Future A pays the lender. Future B pays a savings account.
- Future B buys outright in the first month its savings cover the price, which may have moved by then.
- At the end we add up what each one holds: savings, plus what the purchase would resell for, plus anything it earned, minus any loan left.
The result includes one figure worth more than the rest: the monthly value at which the two futures come out level. If having the thing sooner is worth more than that to you, in earnings or in anything else, borrowing is the better trade on these inputs. The full method, with its limits, is in the methodology.
For a plain version without the stories, use the borrow or wait calculator.