Many students end up with short term cash needs that they cannot fulfill due to not having enough in savings. Students who are heading to school are joining a large group of consumers facing financial struggles. While working adults are used to the challenges of moving across the country for a new job, a major auto repair, a flooded basement that needs to be dealt with or some other emergency. Students going to school this fall will face an onslaught of financial challenges. In any situation you can think of, a personal loan can be a life saver. A personal loan does not have to break the bank, it is possible to obtain a personal loan with reasonable repayment terms. The better your credit score obviously the better the interest rates you will receive. There are some things to take into consideration when searching for a personal loan.
The first thing to take into consideration is interest rates. There are two types of personal loans. The first and most common is unsecured personal loans. These loans while they do not require collateral, will feature higher interest rates. The second type of personal loans are secured, but will feature much lower interest rates. These secured loans are backed by either your property or an auto. Either way your credit score is going to have an effect on your interest rates, so having a good credit score will go a long away towards getting a prime interest rate.
If you have poor credit you options will not be that great. If you do not need a loan today, you likely will at some point in your life, so I would suggest working on your credit score today. It is never fun or exciting to pay past due debts, but doing so will improved your credit, and if an emergency ever hits you will thank me for following that advice. If you do have poor credit, you can opt for a cosigner or using property as collateral, which could secure you the loan that you need. Believe me there are options online if you need a personal loan no matter what your credit score looks like, and none of these options involve going to payday lenders. Several lenders today in fact are basing lending decisions off of non-traditional information, such as your education level and income.
If you are after the lowest possible interest rate, you should look into credit unions. The only draw back here is that you need to be a member of one, so this advice is more long term than anything else. Sooner or later you are likely to need a loan, and regardless if it is a personal loan, home loan, equity loan or an auto loan, credit unions are the way to go, so it behooves you to join a credit union today. If you ever need a loan, your credit union membership will come in handy right away.
Another avenue for person loans outside of traditional commercial banks is online lenders. You can often times shop for rates on your personal loans online without harming your credit, thanks to soft inquiries. When a lender does a soft inquiry, it does not appear on your credit report, and gives the lender enough information most times to give you a rate.
For students off to school this fall, it’s always a great idea to meet with a financial counselor at school prior to making rash decisions that could jeopardize your finances for years to come.
