I have some spare money which I will not be using till the end of this year. I would like to invest it so it’ll earn some interest. I looked online and someone suggested peer to peer lending. Has anyone done that. ? I live in the US. I have like $5000 which I have saved for kids school and I will not be using till the end of the year. How to invest it wisely. It has been in the bank for 3 years now. Earned a measley $20 every year in an online savings account. If it had doubled I could have used it for 2 years school expenses right? Please suggest how to make good use of this money. I quit my job when my second one was born. Any amount of money earned is a big Help to me. Please suggest.
If you need it by the end of the year, high yield savings account is a better idea than peer to peer investing. I am invested on both and this is based on my experience.
OP, if you are looking for safe investment, so that you do not loose the principal, then try high yield CD investment. Look at website www.bankrate.com for good CD rates. However if you are willing to take some risk then try Money Market Funds or Bond Funds. if you want to start small investment in stock market, you can look into STASH/ ACRON investment. If you want to stay out of stock market, then you can try Crowd funding real estate investing such as Fundrise starter portfolio. I have not invested in peer to peer lending, but I invest long term in stock market via 401(k) and IRA. If needed I can provide more information.
I live in India . I do it here. I do not work now. I miss my financial state while i was working. But in my current mental state and life situation i cannot and do not want to go for a full time job. I used to give my entire salary into house while i was working. Later things changed with my husband ,my life situation changed and i do not want to go for a full time job now . But i wanted to have my own earned money for things i wanted to enjoy without asking my husband. He provides for only basic household necessities. I somehow had money of 2 months salary and provident fund money saved in my account. One of my friends who lends in her friend circle wanted some money from me for interest to be given to her borrowers for a higher interest rate..At that time i was unaware of any investments and thought that lending is immoral. I refused as i was worried to lose the only money i have got.she pleaded and pleaded and some how got me lend to her. she gave 24% per annum interest to me. Getting just 2000-3000 rs monthly of my own gave me immense feeling of self worth..and strength. I can use this money to buy little gifts to my family(my parents,brothers kids or my kids) which gives me a very good feeling. I lent to 2 vegetable vendors too who my maid brought..They would buy vegetables for wholesale rates and would sell for almost 100 % profit in retail.. I felt like this is investment same as in stocks.. i do not have any knowledge in stocks.. For lending I have to choose reliable borrowers who can work, have desire to pay.. and some assets if possible for security... I would take agreements from them. I sold some of my gold and used the money in lending . i gave to another friend's relatives ( this friend of mine is true in values and is trustworthy(touchwood) ) who invest in their businesses. Later on i searched internet for P2P lending.. I invested in AnytimeLoan Faircent Cashkumar Lendenclub Lendbox.. I2IFunding Out of all these Anytimeloan has good returns and good recovery of loans ..Others are risky and we have to be careful.. I would suggest not to invest in faircent.. It is risky always... It would be better to give it among friends circle who are good ,have desire and ability to pay.. Please let me know if this information is of any use to you and want to know more of my lending experience..
Yes this is exactly what I’m looking for. Thank u sooo much !!! But do we need to report the income to income tax ?? Is there such a facility in the US?? Of course I will also invest in India as u have given the great advice but since I live in us being able to invest in the US dollars would be more helpful to me.
if there is a paper trail, e.g., a promissory note, then it is best to report and pay taxes. Otherwise, your erstwhile friend (case of money lending among friends...), if she goes bankrupt or cannot pay back for any reason, you'd lose the option to take a loss on your tax return.