Looking for views from people who have actually run the numbers, rather than just “clear debt ASAP” vs “invest everything”.
My situation:
- Maybank Flexi housing loan
- Outstanding: ~RM600k
- Interest rate: 3.9%
- Remaining tenure: ~30 years
- Emergency fund: RM100k
- Monthly expenses: ~RM15k
- Surplus cash flow: ~RM5k/month
Because it’s a flexi loan, I can park excess cash against the loan and reduce daily interest while still retaining some liquidity.
So I’m considering:
Put the full RM5k/month into the flexi loan.
Invest the RM5k/month elsewhere.
Split between both.
The questions I’m trying to answer are:
At 3.9%, is aggressive repayment actually the optimal move, or is this considered relatively cheap debt worth keeping?
If an investment only gives around 4–5%, does the small additional return justify the extra risk compared with a guaranteed 3.9% interest saving?
For a flexi loan, would you treat money parked inside the loan as part of your emergency fund, or still maintain a separate cash reserve?
How much liquidity would you personally keep outside the flexi account before aggressively reducing the principal?
Would you compare the mortgage against low-risk options only, or against long-term equity returns such as diversified ETFs?
For people who chose investing over early repayment, what expected return did you require before deciding it was worth carrying the mortgage?
And psychologically aside, purely from a net-worth perspective, which strategy would you choose with these numbers?
Interested in the maths and reasoning behind your decision.