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Sunday, June 21, 2009

Unsecured vs Secured Loans

By Tom Miller

When you start looking into personal loans you'll quickly learn that there are different ways to borrow cash for all sorts of things that you need money for. The two basic types of loans are often categorized as "secured" and "unsecured" loans.

Unsecured loans are good for smaller purchases which you can pay off quickly. Unsecured loans are loans which are given to you based on your credit score and not based on any single possession you offer up for collateral. Your credit rating is really a measure of your past ability to pay off debts. If you've always paid your debts on time then you probably have a pretty good credit rating. Most credit cards are actually considered to be an unsecured loan.

When you finance a car or buy a home with a mortgage the bank technically owns what you bought until you've paid off the debt amount plus interest. If you default on your loan then the bank can take your collateral and auction it in an effort to regain some of the cash they lent you. Secured loans are a type of loan in which the bank has some sort of collateral or item which you own to hold until you pay off the loan.

Depending on your tax situation you may even be able to reduce the yearly income tax that you owe. There is often more paperwork associated with secured loans because they are so much larger than most unsecured loans. Typical secured loans include house mortgages, new auto loans and most current house remodeling financing options. Secured loans such as home equity lines of credit generally have a lower interest rate, which makes paying them off less expensive over the long run.

No matter what type of financing you consider remember that you do have to pay the money back and you will be paying interest on the amount that is owed. Be smart and make sure you can really afford the monthly payments before you go forward with your loan. Many costly plans are changed when people finally begin to consider how different financing options work.

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