Home Loan EMI - Expense or Investment ?

 I often hear people saying, “I earn XYZ, but after expenses — which also includes my home loan EMI — I have nothing left to save or invest.”

And I always wonder… isn’t the home loan EMI an investment too? Why do we automatically put it under “expenses”?

Maybe because we live in that house and can’t sell it whenever we want. But we are still building something for the future. Yet I have rarely heard anyone say, “I have ₹X invested in my house.” We usually say, “My expenses include ₹X of home loan EMI.” Same money going out. Different perspective.

Home Loan EMI — Investment or Expense?

Fit or Obsessed?

Going to the gym five days a week and spending hours training can be seen as dedication when yu are an athlete, but “obsession” when yu are just another person trying to stay fit. Again, same commitment, different interpretation.

Office Politics or Strategy?

Managing stakeholders, understanding people’s interests, building relationships and influencing decisions can be called “politics” when yu don’t benefit from it, but “stakeholder management” or “strategy” when yu are good at it. Maybe people who excel at it call it strategy, while people who suffer from it call it politics.

Personal Branding or Showing Off?

Sharing your wins online: a senior leader calls it ‘personal branding,’ but when yu do it, it’s ‘showing off.

Bribe or Gift?

A gift given to influence a decision can be called a bribe in one situation and a “strategic gift” or “relationship building” in another. Same exchange. Different label.

And then there is Workaholic or Passionate?

We see people who practice sports for hours — Virat Kohli, Serena Williams, Rafael Nadal — and call them passionate. They might be among the top 1% in their sport precisely because they put in that kind of effort.

Now at work, someone can be equally passionate about what they do. They don’t see everything as a strict 9-to-5. They put in extra hours, go beyond their role and genuinely care about the outcome. And we often call them a workaholic.

Why not passionate? Maybe not everyone wants to be an entrepreneur. Maybe some people simply enjoy contributing to a bigger goal by being really, really good at what they do.

Maybe that’s the interesting part about perspective. The action doesn’t always change. The label does.

And sometimes the label changes because of who is doing it, who is watching it, or simply whether it worked.

What is one example where yu have seen the same thing get a completely different label?