As social lending continues to mature, it comes to no surprise that the third party automation tools continue to mature with it. I’m excited to share that LendingRobot is now registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission as an Investment Advisor. If you are a Lending Robot user you already received an email earlier this week. Besides this being a step in the right direction for third party tools, this change also comes with a new fee structure which I’ll outline below. I’m hoping this change will also prompt retail investors who were previously reluctant about using a third party tool to reconsider. [Read more...]
I went on vacation last week, but my Lending Club account didn’t (How I invested $1,000 in less than 1 week)
It wasn’t until last week until I truly appreciated the fact that my account was fully automated. I used to think automation wasn’t necessary. After all, I’m a software developer by trade and usually have my laptop within reach during the 4 pm or 8 pm CST note release times. However, last week I went on a road trip to South Carolina and camped along the way down south - not conducive to managing a p2p lending account that isn’t automated. I tried to coordinate a significant amount of capital (it’s all about perspective people) being invested while I was gone and see how long it would take to invest. [Read more...]
Meet Ryan - Passive Income and P2P Lending Investor, Blogger
I think it’s important for readers to get a sense of who I am when they read my posts. I don’t want to be an anonymous blogger - I want to get out there and interact with readers and others in the industry. This is the main reason I decided to attend LendIt this year. In the past year, I have learned a lot about personal finance and eventually found my way to p2p lending. When I first invested in p2p lending, I blindly selected notes to invest in. This is in part why this blog exists today - to give me the best chance at solid returns (through education) while helping others along the way. Over the last few years, I have realized that my goal is to create multiple sources of diversified passive income through investing. I’ll outline the start my pursuits and how p2p lending fits in with my goals below. [Read more...]
From the Peer And Social Lending Mailbox - #1
As this blog has continued to become more popular, I am starting to get some questions from the contact form. I really enjoy hearing from others who are excited about this industry so keep the emails coming! As I was writing response emails last week, I thought about how there may be many other people out there with the same question. As I continue to learn more about p2p lending, I need to remember that others may still be trying to learn. I too was in the same situation when I first got started. It’s also nice to get a different perspective on things. The Peer & Social Lending Mailbox is just a trial for now, but we will see how things go. Personally, I’d love for this to turn into a regular occurrence. The plan is to share emails and my responses that I think could help others. If I can’t answer them, I might try to reach out to someone else for comment. I’m also trying to figure out the best way to help new readers find content that is valuable to them as they educate themselves on peer to peer lending so keep an eye out for some changes. Keep in mind that none of the information I provide is investment advice and nothing on this blog should be considered as such. Check out our first email from James below!
Peer & Social Lending will be at LendIt 2014!
LendIt - the leading conference for p2p lending is May 4-6 2014. Through a combination of credit card rewards, generous friends in the area offering a couch and a great p2p lending community - I am extremely excited to announce that I will be in attendance! I never thought that this would be a possibility for 2014 and I can’t wait to be immersed with a group of people and companies who are just as excited as I am about the p2p lending industry. I am committed to creating valuable content for readers and learning more about p2p lending will only continue to keep me motivated. This an interesting time in history as traditional banking continues to be disrupted. If you’re going to be at LendIt, be sure you stop and say hi! I’ll be the one lobbying for LendIt 2015 to be in Wisconsin 
If you want to learn more about LendIt 2014 check them out online here:
BorrowFlex - Peer to Peer Lending with Friends and Family
BorrowFlex is a startup in the peer to peer lending space with a twist. As opposed to getting a loan funded from anonymous investors with Lending Club and Prosper - your friends and family act as lenders. Since people lend money to friends and family already, it makes sense to structure and streamline the process. People need loans for all sorts of reasons, but I think this could be a particularly great alternative for people who often resort to things like payday loans. I had the opportunity to send questions to David Tran from BorrowFlex to learn more.
Lending Club Filter Strategies and One Benefit of a Smaller P2P Lending Account
I have been reading recently about other blogger’s strategies when it comes to Lending Club filters. I wanted to write about another technique that I utilize, which is creating filters that are restrictive based on how much you need to keep invested. Having a smaller account means that I don’t need to open up my criteria as much as others do. In the long run, (provided loan availability stays consistent) I should be getting even better returns. [Read more...]
Unsecured Peer to Peer Loans with Lending Club and Prosper (And what borrowers REALLY need to know)
Much of the content of this blog has been dedicated to investing in unsecured peer to peer loans with Lending Club and Prosper. However, there is much more to the industry than the potential for solid returns. Consolidation of credit is the main reason for people to apply for peer to peer loans. These are real people who can benefit immensely from receiving a lower rate than their credit cards charge - eventually breaking free from debt altogether. In this post, I’ll outline a few of the benefits of getting a loan through Prosper or Lending Club for borrowers. [Read more...]
Overview of Orchard Platform - Peer to Peer Lending for Institutional Investors
From time to time, I like to feature other companies involved in the peer to peer lending space. Orchard Platform is one of many companies involved in investing money in peer to peer lending for institutional investors. I spoke to Matt Burton from Orchard to learn more about Orchard and get his insight into the p2p lending industry. [Read more...]
BlueVestment Video - Free Third Party Tool for Lending Club
When it comes to investing in social lending, it is no secret that I’m a fan of automated investing. In our first video, I featured LendingRobot and today I’m featuring a free tool called BlueVestment. I’ve been using BlueVestment paired with p2p-picks.com for about a month now. BlueVestment allows you to select your own filters, but it also connects picks from Bryce’s credit models over at p2p-picks. It takes some time to get setup, but once you create the accounts it really is completely hands off.
If you want more information, check out our Q & A with Nathan (Owner of BlueVestment) here or feel free to ask questions in the comments.