Personal Signature Loans and The Art of Borrowing
Many of the problems in the world financial system right now are due to the widespread misuse of credit. It all really comes down to the Art of Borrowing, and as a nation (and world) we’ve been going about it all the wrong way. We’re borrowing way too much relative to our income; we’re saving less than 0% of our earnings, and we’re headed down the path to financial destruction.
Residential real estate, and all the abuses on the both sides of the transactions, is the most glaring indicator of how ridiculous our country has chosen to behave itself with respect to credit and lending practices. A plumber earning $54,000 per year has no business borrowing $400,000 to buy a home; he’ll never be able to to keep up with the payments. And now the taxpayers of the world, most of all those who have kept their mortgage current by not borrowing more than they could pay back, are footing the bill.
We have to do better next time, and doing better means using credit intelligently. Most of the time borrowing wisely means not borrowing at all, including avoiding personal signature loans and other quick cash borrowing tools. Stay away from them no matter what – even if it means taking a part time job to get by in the meantime.
Why am being so harsh on this issue? Because short term loans (whose term is a few weeks or less) are going to carry awful interest rates almost without exception. Do you like the idea of paying 80% or 90% interest and high fees? Neither do I.
That being said, while signature personal loans are generally an awful financial move, there may be times where you just can’t avoid using them. You might experience sudden unemployment when your boss fires you for no apparent reason at all.
In spite of how unfair the firing is, there may not be a whole lot you can do about it. What are you going to do – sue him? The reality is that in a lawsuit, nobody wins. And how are you going to pay a lawyer anyway?
So with no job, and the bills stacking up, and no family or friends to lend you some money to get you buy, the only choice might be to go to your bank and ask for a signature loan. You see, your mortgage lender isn’t going to cut you a break just because your boss unfairly terminated you.
Here’s my advice: borrow the absolute minimum you need to get by until you and secure a new job and your next paycheck. And take any job you can get – in this economy we can’t really afford to get greedy or picky when it comes to making a few bucks. For the next few years it’s in all of our best interest to do whatever is (legally and ethically) necessary to feed our families and keep our bills paid.
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