Have you ever wanted a loan, but didn't want to charge it on your high interest credit card or deal with the hassle of the bank loan process? You think the credit crisis will hurt your chances at getting a traditional loan? There is a better way to get loans up to $25,000 easily.

Peer-to-Peer Lending is revolutionizing the way we borrow and loan out money. Instead of going through a bank or credit card company, you can get a loan from people lending their personal money. Lending Club is a place where people looking to borrow and lend money come together.

You simply post your profile and what you need the money for. On the other side, lending people view your profile and loan request. They will loan you the money if they think you're a good match.

Lending Club's Straightforward Loans

• Borrow up to $25,000
• Rates start as low as 7.88%

Borrowers get personal loans at better rates

Borrowers typically request personal loans on Lending Club to finance purchases, pay for one-time events (like weddings or continuing education classes), or refinance existing high-interest loans, credit card balances or other revolving debt.

Borrowers complete a personal loan request online and can instantly view the interest rate they qualify for. There are no hidden fees, and the interest rate is fixed for the full three-year duration of the loan. -excerpt from Lending Club-


Make Money by Lending in Prime Borrowers

For those of you wanting to make money, you can lend to borrowers with good credit. If the stock market is making you nauseous and bonds aren't giving you the returns you want, try this.

• Lend Money Now Invest money in prime borrowers. Stated interest rates of return up to 19.37%.
• Borrow Money Now Rates starting at 7.88%.

Before you think about what your next investment is, make sure your finances are in order. More people now than ever are in debt, and deeply in it. As far as debt reduction goes; Debt should be your number #1 priority. Get rid of it! Reduce Debt!

Start with high interest debt; debt like credit cards and store financing can have interest rates up around 26%. After working on paying off that kind of debt (even if it has to be a little at a time, maybe cutting down on eating out and shopping thrifty, etc.), the relief will come much sooner than you'd expect.

Avoid car loans if you can; paying interest on a big-ticket item that depreciates is hard to justify. Think about it. If you agree to pay 14% interest for 5 years on a new $30,000 car, you could expect to pay under $700 a month. Not too bad right? Wait, over that 5 years, you will have paid close to $42,000 for the car because of the 14% interest. On top of that, a week after you bought your car it lost 28% of it's value. That's $8,400! A week after you bought the car it was worth $21,600, and you ended up paying $42,000 for it. You have to think about other costs like gas, car insurance (auto insurance). Try to budget out the costs of your car; get auto insurance quotes and estimate gas usage before even looking for a car. With that said, try to avoid car loans.

Credit cards are a whole other bear. Some credit cards will charge 26% or more on the balance you don't pay off for each month. 26% interest can put you in the hole faster than you can say "I'm in debt". Once your balance starts to grow beyond your means, what you owe will stack up quickly. If you have credit card debt, you first have to stop spending more than you can pay for each month. Pay the balance of that month in full. Then, alot an amount of what you make each month to pay off a part of the credit card debt. If you follow that plan, you'll be fine. To add to that, no one needs a credit card; you can use your debit card just like a credit card.

The Plan to Financial Prosperity

On to more positive things, you should develop a financial plan if you haven't already.

-A good life plan to follow is 80-10-10. Make a budget following this plan, and you will retire wealthy, happy, and debt-free.

• Learn to live off of 80% of what you make (incudes ALL expenses: food, house payments, clothes, taxes etc.).
• Give away 10%. Give it to a charity you believe in, a church you are a member of, or a family member/ friend that needs help. Not only will this help others and make you feel better about yourself, but also it will bring you connections to people that will appreciate what you're doing. Those people can bring you more business or even get you into a better job.
• The other 10% is strictly for saving and investing for retirement.

Even if you just invest in mutual funds or ETFs, your investment will grow in a compounding fashion over time (which means over time that small amount you contribute each month will turn into a huge amount). Set up a budget that dices up the pieces of your income in that fashion. The 80-10-10 is just a starting point. Living off of 80% is the maximum; if you can do 70-10-20, then by all means do it. That way you will have more room to pay for life insurance, pay off that equity loan, and cover your mortgage (home loan) easily.

Get these ideas into practice, and you will be thanking me when you retire rich and worry free.

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The key to investing is to always learn. Learn about the markets, learn investing methods, learn how to assess companies and their financial statements. You have to learn the game before you play it. That's how the world works. I have read more than I think my cranium can fit, but somehow it does. Every investor should read different books, articles, etc. on investing. The idea is not to find one book and follow it religiously; you have to get many different aspects of investing, decide what you like, test it, and then fine tune it to your own style of investing.

I will give you a list of recommended reading for beginning and intermediate investors, but that doesn't mean you can't become an expert on the styles presented in the books. They simply explain their particular style in an easier way to start out, and then they go into depth about it.

1. Rule #1- by Phil Town
In this New York Times bestseller, Phil Town describes a different twist to traditional buy and hold. He mixes aspects of value investing with some technical aspects that are important to recognize. His book really opened up doors for me.

2. Real Money- by James Cramer
I know some of you are going to say, "You want me to read a book by that nut Jim Cramer who screams on TV!" The answer is Yes. It is not because everything he says is right or he is the absolute best, but he has some really valuable knowledge on fundamental investing. Mr. Cramer is a former Goldman Sachs employee, hedge fund manager, and much more. I guess 14 years of managing a 24% average return after fees, $450 million hedge fund gives him some authority on investing.

3. Invest Like a Shark- by James "RevShark" DePorre
The shark brings a whole different aspect of investing than Jim Cramer, but he also acknowledges DePorre's book by writing the foreword in it. For those of you that like to analyze charts and technicals a little more, this is the book for you.

4. The Intelligent Investor- by Benjamin Graham
Benjamin Graham is one of the most renowned investing authors in history. He taught Warren Buffett how to invest, and he is quoted by saying, " [It is] by far the best book on investing ever written." This is THE book on investing, and if you want proof this method works, take a look at Warren Buffett's net worth (by the way he is the Richest Man In The World!). I will warn you that this book is much thicker than any other book I recommended and the concepts are quite a bit more advanced.

I will continue to tell you about books that can help you make lots of money in investing in equities markets as well as real estate. For now, you have plenty of reading to get done. Also, take notes on the methods explained in the book, so you can come back and refer to it when it comes to testing out the strategies. These books are a great way to learn investing, and they're great material for investing ideas.