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By: Nidhi
Published: February 5, 2008
Personal Loan: the perfect elixir for your financial ills
Imagine this: You have been driving your old Lexus for a long
time now and you have your eyes set on that new Audi A4. But you
just somehow never get to save enough to buy a new car. Then,
one day your car brakes down and just refuses to pick up. Now,
what do you do? You have no option left but to buy a new car.
But you don't have enough savings to finance your car.
Now what?
Do you start begging your colleagues for a lift to work
everyday? Or do you turn to friends and relatives for some
financial help? Neither sounds good! Doesn't it? Then,
why not avail a personal loan?
A personal loan is a
form of credit that you can utilise for fulfilling your
personal needs. The major benefit of personal loans is that
there are no restrictions on the way you use it. In other
words, you can use a personal loan for anything ranging
from financing your holiday to purchasing your dream car.
Types of personal loans: Personal loans may be
classified as secured and unsecured personal
loans. In order to avail a secured personal loan you
will have to offer some kind of security. A house is
the most acceptable form of collateral. On the other hand an
unsecured personal loan does not demand any collateral
but at the same time carries a higher rate of interest.
Loan terms and limits: You can usually avail a
personal loan up to £15,000 but some lenders even go as
high as £25,000. So is the case with the loan term, while
some firms lend you personal loans for a maximum period
of seven years, there are others that are ready to extend it to
ten. Basically, it all depends on your ability to convince your
lender of your repayment ability. But a general rule is
that bigger is the loan amount; lower is the interest
rate.
Things to Remember: When you start your search for that
perfect personal loan, you must take note of the
following pointers:
. Will you be able to keep up with the monthly
installments? . Is a fixed rate more suitable to you
or a variable rate? While a fixed rate makes you pay a
specified rate of interest for certain duration of your loan
term, a variable rate varies with the base rate. . Do you need a
loan protection insurance to cover for the periods when
you are not able to pay the installments due to illness or
unemployment? . Also, remember to read the fine print of your
loan contract and never approach a small, unheard of firm for
your loan.
So, go ahead avail a personal loan and take that long
overdue vacation or buy that dream car that you have been
hankering after for so long.
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