Hong Kong, Aug. 12 -- A few years ago, Hena Mehta, CEO and founder of Basis, a platform for women to achieve financial independence, was faced with a dilemma. She had been admitted to an MBA programme in the US, and was figuring out how to pay for it. The thought of taking on a massive student loan at the age of 28 scared her, but paying for it using personal savings would have meant having none at the end of the programme. While she now has a better sense of when a loan should be taken, then it was perplexing.

Are you wondering if taking on a loan will it mean living beyond your means? When is the right time, and in what scenarios should you take on a loan? Mehta gives us hacks to find out.

Let's begin with the basics. To pay for anyth...