Hands On Investing with P2P Lending

There are many different attitudes investors have towards the type of investments they make and how they manage them. Some investors do not have the time or skill to manage their own investments so they use investment advisors. This can include everything from a highly paid investment advisor to a simple low cost mutual fund. This approach is by far the most common and serves to make investing easy enough that anyone can do it.

Of course, there is also the small segment of the investing population who prefer to actively manage their money. While this can be risky, these people believe that they can equal or exceed the returns provided by advisors and institutions. In addition, many of them enjoy the challenge and effort required to find and manage great investments. There are a lot of different ways to invest money and people who can find certain options may be able to do very well.

One popular way to invest that is very attractive to the hands-on investor is peer to peer lending. Peer to peer loans are rapidly becoming the most popular way for consumers to get personal loans to pay off credit cards, pay medical expenses, make improvements to their home or get money for virtually anything. In the past, banks were the only place to go for these loans. Now, the peer to peer lending industry provides an alternative. What makes them different is that the money to fund the loans does not come from large institutions. Thousands of investors provide a small amount of money each, and when it is pulled together they have millions of dollars to loan.

The investors deposit a small amount on money with the lending platform (a website like Lending Club). They can then choose which loans that their money will fund with lending club investing. This is the hands-on part. The investor can view information from each borrower’s application and decide which loans are the best investment for them. Loans vary by risk of default and interest rate so an investor must first decide how much of a risk taker they are. For example, some who wants to make a lot of money may invest in higher interest rate but riskier loans. They may have more loans that are not paid back but the higher interest rates will probably give their portfolio a higher return.

Once an investor has decided on the type of borrower they want to lend to, then they will pick specific loans. This is done by looking at the information on the application and the borrowers credit information that the platform has researched and provided. One key piece of data is the borrower’s credit score. Also, it is good to look at how much debt they have, what their income is and if they have made all of their payments on time in the past. There is a lot of information to analyze and the investors who do it well can make money.

If you are looking for a relatively safe but hands-on investment, then peer to peer lending may be right for you. There are many websites that offer this service but they are usually pretty much the same. So, set up your account today and you can be investing tomorrow!