Prepayment Penalty for Loans vs. Current Interest Earnings

So for investors in safe forms, best times.

No, for some debtors these are the best times: low costs, high credit interest rates. Inflation devalues the part of the debt against which there is no credit balance. Investors with pure credit are somewhat squeezed since 2.x% interest is below inflation.

No, for some debtors these are the best times: low costs, high interest on credit balances. Inflation devalues the part of the debt for which there is no corresponding credit balance.

Investors with pure credit balances are a bit squeezed, as 2.x% interest is below inflation.

Yes, that's what I meant, you formulated it correctly.

You get 3.55% for 5-year investments, with a rising trend. There should hardly be any savers after more than 10 years of low interest rates :-D

Anyone investing now in the very volatile stock market cannot be helped anymore. Either have a savings account with 2% or more safely, or invest in stocks and see the prices have fallen by up to -60% last year for many companies. And even the highly praised MSCI World is down 18% in one year. And it was supposed to be so great. That shows again what you get from stocks, namely nothing at all.

According to your logic, the best time to invest in the stock market is when it has reached its peak and the worst when it is at its lowest point ;)
And 2% interest is obviously a bad joke with 8-10% inflation. You are definitely making a loss, without any potential for growth

And even the highly praised MSCI World is down 18% in one year. And it’s supposed to be so great. That just shows what you get from stocks, namely nothing.

Well, after 2019 and 2021 were absolute top years with almost 30% gains (2020 in between was also positive, although significantly less), the loss in 2022 isn’t that bad after all... but you can see from the numbers: the fluctuations are extreme and anyone who plans to use the money at a very specific time (like to pay off a loan) exposes themselves to risks. For me personally, this means: the mix is what matters. But everyone has to weigh for themselves where they land in terms of risk profile.

Exactly. If you don't need the money at a certain time, then you can safely invest diversified. But for paying off loans, I wouldn't park my money there. And I have also had good experiences with individual stocks. Tesla was such a candidate. Over 100% return is also luck. And now they are rather down again. (Individual) stocks are gambles.