Mint.com has put together an interesting video of what one trillion dollars can buy.  With the current government bailout, proposed healthcare reform, one trillion is thrown around a lot.  But what exactly is one trillion dollars when visualized?  See video below.

Last Tuesday I wrote a post about getting a low interest loan from Lending Club.  However, on the flip side you can be a lender and make a much higher return on your money than any bank can currently pay; even with a CD.  This post is about becoming a lender or investor.

Lending Club is a social lending network that brings together investors and creditworthy borrowers to lend money that cuts out the middle man; traditional banks.  The process is sometimes referred to Peer-to-Peer lending (P2P). Lending Club takes a small 1% commission from lenders to conduct busines.  Borrowers pay a processing fee depending on their creditworthiness which range from 0.75% to 3.5% of the loan value. 

Lending Club can afford to do this because they have very low overhead by offering their service via the Internet with an automated system.  They have no brick and mortar locations, ATM machines, many employees, etc., that a typical bank has.

There is risk with lending your money to individuals; however, Lending Club does a very good job of qualifying good borrowers based on their credit score (minimum of 660 required), debt-to-income ratio (excluding mortgage) below 25% and credit history that shows borrowers are responsible.  

Lending Club accepts 1 out of every 10 people who apply for a loan.  Interest rates are determined by risk.  Borrowers that are ranked as low risk can borrow at lower interest rates, while borrowers that are ranked as higher risk will pay a higher interest rate.  So lenders can get a higher interest rate if they are willing to take on higher risk loans.  Loan requests are attributed to Lending Club grade ranging from A1 to G5.  See screen shot below.

To minimize risk, lenders can find borrows based on credit scores, debt-to-income ratio, delinquencies (last 2 years), and funding status.    See screen shot below.

Loans are 3 years, however, you can sell your loan at any point and according to Lending Club it normally takes 2 and ½ day to sell your loan.  

Lending Club also allows you to easy reinvest your returns based on your cash available and your desired interest rate. See screen shot below

Yesterday Lending Club had a Webinar (presentation via the Web) and stated that over the last 2 years Lending Club has had much higher returns when compared to 1-3 Year Treasuries, iBoxx High Yield Corporate Bond Fund, NASDAQ and S-And-P 500.    See slide below.

I recently opened an account with Lending Club and hope to get some of these nice returns!  For more information visit Lending Club.

Related Articles:

• Need a Loan? Get a Low Interest Loan from Lending Club
• Social Lending Networks are Booming

If you are looking for free personal finance software then you should consider BudgetPulse. BudgetPulse is designed so that you can quickly and easily take control of your personal finances. BudgetPulse eliminates the risk of identity theft because it isn’t linked to your bank. Additionally, there are no downloads or complicated software to figure out.  So check it out, it’s FREE!

See the video below of how BudgetPulse works.

For more information visit BudgetPulse.com.

Related Article: Get Your Free Financial Software at Gnucash.com

If you are looking to borrow money and have good credit, you may want to consider using Lending Club.  Lending Club is a social lending network where, if you have good credit, you can borrow money at a low interest rate compared to conventional sources.  Lending Club isn’t a bank, it’s network of individuals meeting to lend and borrow money, hence the term “social lending.”

Lending Club makes it easy for borrowers to secure funds at the low fixed rate by automating the repayment process.  Borrowers must have a bank account linked to their Lending Club account to transfer funds back and forth.   Loan repayments are made automatically by deducting the amount from your bank that is linked to your Lending Club account.

Lending Club allows you to borrow from $1,000 to $25,000 as an unsecured loan that can be used for any purpose such as debt consolidation loans, housing and home improvement loans, auto loans, home and small business loans, student loans, etc.

Lending Club operates entirely online at low operating costs to help borrowers and lenders connect. As a result Lending Club passes the savings onto their customers (borrowers and lenders) in the form of better interest rates for everyone.  Without expensive overhead that banks and credit card companies have; such as maintaining buildings, staff and ATMs, Lending Club is sustained by simply charging small origination or processing fees per transaction.

Below is a chart of what Lending Club interest rates start at compared to U.S. Bank NA, Wells Fargo Bank and Chase Bank:

Lenders and Borrowers apply online with an approval process that takes a few minutes.  Borrowers choose how much money they want to borrow and will instantly learn how much interest rate they qualify for.  They then confirm the amount or choose a different amount at a different rate.  This is done all in real time, online and with no hidden costs or charges.

Lending Club is only available to United States residents.  To qualify borrowers need a FICO score of at least 660 with a debt-to-income ratio (excluding mortgage) below 25%.  Additionally, credit history must prove that you are a responsible borrower:

• At least 1 year of credit history, showing no current delinquencies, recent bankruptcies (7 years), open tax liens, charge-offs or non-medical collections account in the past 12 months,
• No more than 10 inquiries on your credit report in the last 6 months,
• A revolving credit utilization of less than 100%, and
• More than 3 accounts in your credit report, of which more than 2 are currently open.

Normally borrowers get fully funded within 2 weeks, but can take just a few days.  If after 2 weeks a borrower isn’t funded they have 2 choices; either accept partial funding or pass on the loan without any penalty.

Visit LendingClub.com now to get your low interest loan.

Related Article: Social Lending Networks are Booming

Ebay wants your help to determine who should win $25,000 to grow their business on eBay.  EBay started the contest several weeks ago and it ended on July 7, however, now the public will choose a winner.

Contestants had to answer one simple question with a basic business plan and video summation.   The contest is in partnership with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the world’s largest foundation devoted to entrepreneurship.

Contestants were able to enter their plan in one of four categories:

• Current or former members of the Unites States armed forces
• Individuals or small businesses who have not sold on eBay
• Part-time sellers who want to go full-time on eBay
• Full-time eBay sellers who want to grow their business further

One winner in each category will receive a $25,000 grant to bring their plan to life.  eBay has narrowed the entries down to 8 finalists and now is allowing the eBay community members to vote for 1 winner in each category at sellerschallenge.ebay.com.  Runners up will each receive $5,000 to apply to their business.

Visit sellerschallenge.ebay.com to watch the videos and vote.

Below is a guest post by Robin Williams.

A debt consolidation loan can combine your multiple debts into one loan, help you save money and handle your finances better.

It is quite easy to fall into a debt trap but it is always difficult to dig yourself out of it. If you have piled up a huge amount of high-interest debts and you’re finding it difficult to keep up with your monthly debt payments, one solution to lower them and get out of debt is a debt consolidation loan.

Why A Debt Consolidation Loan Is Beneficial for You

The idea behind a debt consolidation loan is simple. You are acquiring a new loan at a reduced rate than your present debts that frequently carry higher rates charged by retailers and credit card companies. Subsequently, you utilize the money to repay your existing debts. This leaves you with just one monthly payment rather than multiple payments. As the new loan is available at a reduced rate, you would also enjoy a reduced payment and it would be less than the aggregate of your earlier payments. This indicates that you can get out of debt faster.

An instance of how a debt consolidation loan works:

• You are obliged to repay $4,000 for a store credit card that has an interest rate of 17.5% and monthly payment for this is $80.
• Your bank credit card has an outstanding balance of $5,000 at an interest rate of 18.9% and monthly payment for this is $100.
• You have a car loan of $15,000 of which $11,632 is outstanding at an interest rate of 6.97% and monthly payment for this is $359.
• Your overall debt amount (not considering your mortgage) is $20,632 and your overall monthly debt payment is $539.
• At this payment level, you’re not paying down your debts rapidly. To make things simpler, you obtain a 60-month home equity loan for the same amount ($20,632) at an interest rate of 7%. Your new monthly payment becomes $409.    
• You can utilize this loan to repay your other creditors. With the considerably reduced interest rate, your new monthly payment amount is lower than your previous one by $130. Furthermore, your debt would be repaid in five years and the overall amount of interest payable by you is $3,880. This is less by $5,541 than what you would have paid for your original loans.

Utilizing A Line Of Credit Or Home Equity Loan

One popular form of debt consolidation loan is a line of credit or home equity loan. As the loan is guaranteed by your home equity, the lender can offer you a cheaper interest rate. The loan amount you can avail is dependent on the amount of equity you have. Usually, lenders would offer you an amount which is equivalent to 80% of your home equity.

The interest payable for a home equity loan might be tax deductible and this successfully lowers the loan costs. You can discuss about this with a tax consultant. Nevertheless, keep in mind that home equity loans require your home as collateral and in case of a default, you have the risk of losing your home.

Utilizing A Personal Loan

For consolidating your debts, lenders also provide personal loans. For this type of financing, it is hard to obtain an interest rate that is sufficient to better your condition, particularly if your credit score is less than adequate. If it is an unsecured personal loan, the interest rate would be more than a home equity loan. One technique to obtain improved terms and conditions is to have a friend or family member as a co-signer, assuring repayment.

Compare Loan Offers

Be cautious prior to signing the dotted line. For effectively lowering your debt, a debt consolidation loan must have an interest rate that is substantially lower than your existing rates. You should also know that your payments might be reduced by extending the repayment term but at the same time, this can result in increased interest cost. Verify if there are any commissions or additional charges along with needless costs like credit insurance.               

Rectify Your Spending Habits

It is essential to keep in mind that a debt consolidation loan would only be useful if you prevent accumulating new debt or else, you would land up in similar types of problems that you had in the past. A debt consolidation loan can help you get back on track. However, it would work if you select the correct loan and rectify your spending habits to stop piling up new debt.

Thanks to JohnChow.com I will be attending the Affiliate Summit Convention in New York City on August 9, 2009 to August 11, 2009. 

To my pleasant surprise I won a Gold Pass to the conference thanks to a contest that John Chow had on his Blog.

Affiliate Summit is the largest affiliate convention in the U.S.  It was founded in 2003 to provide educational sessions and provide a productive networking environment for affiliate marketers.  Affiliate Marketing is something I also do with some moderate successes but many failures.

John Chow is a famous blogger in the blogging world who earns $40,000 per month from his Blog, which is phenomenal.  John blogs about how to make money online and he was one of the first guys to really turn Blogging into a very profitable business.  I have learned techniques from reading his blog and free e-book which has allowed me to make additional income online.

Last July 13, John had a contest to win one of ten Gold Passes, worth $399 each, to give away to 10 lucky readers of his Blog.  Winners would also be able to join John Chow and Market Leverage (an affiliate marketing company) for free pizza.  I jumped at the opportunity.

To enter, all I had to do was to explain in the post comments why I should be awarded a Gold Pass. Too bad John didn’t throw in an airplane ticket and pay for hotel accommodations.  After all, he’s pulling $40,000 per month, not to mention his other very lucrative Internet businesses.   Hey but who’s complaining!

Below is my the comment I left on John’s Blog post as to why I should win.

Related Articles:

• How I Made $125K in Commission via Affiliate Marketing
• Make Money Online with Free Open Source Software