As our economy continues to improve following the Great Recession, personal loans look to be increasing in popularity, says a recent report by TransUnion. With delinquencies falling and more lenders entering the market, TransUnion reports that personal loans are becoming more available. The report says there are an increasing number of well-funded online lenders and the appeal of personal loans is increasing for both secured and un-secured personal loans.
If you are working on improving or re-building your credit, a personal loan may be the way to go. For those that have had trouble in the past keeping credit card balances in check, a personal loan may be a safer way for you to rebuild your credit as they are not a revolving account and cannot be maxed out again and again. Once you pay off the loan, it's gone. Typically, these are short term loans with terms of one to five years. Un-secured loans have no collateral attached to them, while secured loans are usually made on items like motorsports equipment or furniture.
I often recommend that in order to maintain and grow a good credit score to have a variety of credit lines, and a personal loan could be a good option to increase your variety of accounts. However, as always, be wise when deciding to open a new credit line. Make sure you are doing it for the right reasons, not just an impulse purchase of a boat. Keep your budget in place and create a plan to pay off the purchase. And, of course, you will need to be careful to pay all of your bills on time or your good intentions could turn into a derogatory mark on your credit report.
As always, if you have any questions regarding personal loans or improving your credit score, drop me a line.