My childhood friend – Richard – never believed in the modern theory of – ‘buy today and pay later’. For this reason, he never even opted for a credit card. One could always find him in the ‘cash only’ line. However, life comes up with unexpected situations and aspirations.
Richard is a software engineer and had been doing quite well in his field. Yet, like most professionals, he wanted to study further for better career prospects. But, inadequate funds were stopping him from fulfilling his dream.
I discussed his problem with another friend – Alexander – who is a financial expert. For career development plans, he suggested a personal loan. Speaking about its vast gamut, my expert friend told me that this loan category is based on incalculable human needs.
He then informed me that a personal loan is obtainable in both secured (loan against collateral) and unsecured (loan without collateral) form. As I was not aware of the required amount, Alexander decided to explain me both.
He said that with benefits like quick attention, high credit range, low interest rates, multiple rate plans, different repayment methods, and negotiable loan clauses, a secured personal loan is the best choice for a big monetary requirement.
However, it has certain disadvantages too like clientele limitation (credit for homeowners and property owners only), slow approval procedure (due to property evaluation procedure) and repossession threat (in case the borrower fails to payback).
He added that if the monetary requirement is small or urgent then an unsecured personal loan is a better choice. It offers benefits like no collateral compulsion, credit for all, no time-consuming property evaluation procedure, less paperwork, quick service, and no repossession threat.
As the lender’s money remains unprotected, unsecured credit has restrictions like limited credit range, high interest rates, fixed rate plan and payback option, and non-negotiable loan terms and conditions.
He further said, “As both sub-types have pros and cons, decision should be based on monetary requirement and payback capacity; ability and practicality of pledging collateral; and interest rates and overall loan terms and conditions”.
I never thought that in the process of helping my friend, I would end-up gaining such valuable knowledge. Today, Richard is happily pursuing his further studies with the help of UK personal loans.