Money Blue Book

List Of The Top Books About Money For Your Personal Finance Library

Burn those get rich quick books and ditch the late night infomercial gimmicks. Whatever you do -  don’t waste your money on useless junk. True personal finance knowledge is not something that can be acquired overnight, but is a lifelong marathon pursuit that requires the constant absorption of old (proven and established) and new (innovative and efficient) approaches to money management.

Embarking on what some refer to as a personal finance makeover requires an improved understanding of the basic mathematics and psychology behind income generation, responsible savings, and long term investing. But as previously indicated, there are no easy quick fixes to some of life’s complex financial woes. Such pursuits of a better way of life require a self motivated determination to become more financially educated and experienced through the testimonies and learned mistakes of others.

I have heard some commentators cite the declining popularity of newspapers as the reason why book reading is no longer a necessary and relevant activity in today’s technological age. However, I think this line of thought is seriously misguided. Reading books is important because the way that information is consumed through a book is different from the way it is received online. Unlike book reading where consumption is complete and systematical, online consumption is keyword search driven, prone to interruptions, and deprived of full and proper attention. The idea that you can fully understand the nuances of the world, let alone personal finance and proper money management, in small bite size chunks without extended periods of thought is foolish.

There Are Lots Of Great Books About Money But A Few Really Stand Out

When it comes to books, I select books the same way I pick my movies – by reading consumer reviews and getting a consensus opinion from the critics and experts. Admittedly, it’s not the most original or ingenious of methods, but thus far it’s worked well without fail as I have yet to purchase or borrow a personal finance book from the public library that I have not enjoyed or found somewhat interesting.

Coming up with a list of the best personal finance books about money was not easy. The topics they cover vary greatly and their writing styles appeal to different types of readers. Some are more suited for hardcore technical investors looking for statistical theory, while others are more geared towards single moms who just want to know how to pay off their ballooning credit card bills. Some of the authors and titles listed below may sound familiar but that’s because they’ve stood the test of time – and have become bestselling classics and literary blockbusters among avid personal finance consumers.

Remember, the list of books I have read and reviewed below are only the ones that have worked for me, as everyone’s specific needs and life stories are quite different. I own quite a few of them and each holds a special place in my personal finance library. Together, they offer everything a student of personal financial planning could want about saving money, investing in the stock market, debt management, and self motivation. You may notice that I left a few titles out. That’s because I found them either too tediously technical for the average reader or I found them too boring and coma-inducing to personally stomach. Certainly not all personal finance bestsellers are great reads, but I think the following list represent the top titles. All of the book titles listed below provide related links to Amazon.com where you can find more detailed book reviews from those who rate books for a living and by ordinary readers like yourselves.

Do you agree or disagree with my selections? How about sharing a few of your personal five star favorites not mentioned here, or perhaps even offering up some of the bad ones you’ve come across? I’m curious to know more!

List Of Highly Rated Bestselling Money Books That Will Change Your Personal Financial Life

1) The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey – This book is absolutely essential for those who want to get started on the path to financial freedom. If you are up to your neck in credit card debt and struggling with pay check to paycheck living, this easy to read book by famed radio and TV talk show host Dave Ramsey was written for you. In this book, he talks about the importance of taking baby steps through his system of working hard, paying what you owe, and staying out of debt. Ramsey is an anti-credit preacher and is constantly imploring his readers to use cash for everything (while I don’t quite agree with his sentiments about credit card usage, I can certainly appreciate it on a practical level). If you are struggling with debt, you will want to take a look at the Dave Ramsey snowball debt payoff method. The snowball debt repayment method is not the most mathematically logical way to pay off debt, but it harnesses the power of human behavior and personal motivation to accomplish its debt free ends.

The book is sprinkled with many of Dave Ramsey’s own personal and devout Christian morals and practices, but even those who are not overtly religious can still appreciate his advice and recommendations such as adopting a “gazelle intensity” behavioral system to stay ahead of the financial game. The Total Money Makeover is very inspirational and not technical – definitely an easy read.

2) Your Money Or Your Life by Vicki Robin & Joe Dominguez – In this updated and revised version of a personal finance classic, the authors continue as champions of the simplicity movement. In Your Money Or Your Life, readers are implored to sit down and really re-evaluate the priorities in their lives, especially when it comes to their jobs and relationships. The book is a bit new age-ish but not controversial. It examines numerous financial truths about the interplay between life and money, encouraging readers to break out of the doomed cycle of forever trading time for money by pursuing passive income sources. If you are unhappy with your financial life and want to learn how you can break out of your current rut and live a more time efficient and value orientated life, this money book is a must read. It will change your perspective on money and life – and help you understand that it’s not just about working and buying more stuff (not exactly a shocker, but the authors really hammer the concept home).

3) The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley & William Danko – If you are a shopaholic or one who is obsessed with acquiring material possessions, the core message of this book will fly at you like a punch in the face (in a good way of course). The book is quite fascinating as it profiles and surveys the characteristics of very ordinary millionaires (you won’t find hip hop stars or athletes in this book). In their research of the lives and habits of everyday millionaires, the authors of Millionaire Next Door discovered that true millionaires don’t act, eat or even dress like millionaires, as most of them blend quite well into ordinary society due to the surprisingly frugal and cost effective lives that they live. Much of their wealth was developed by simple practices of living below their means and by making smart decisions with their money.

Other than the advice that it’s important to find the right high income producing job, you won’t find any information here on how to make money or increase your cash flow. The book is extremely pro-frugality and cites saving money and delayed gratification as the pinnacle keys to accumulating wealth. The book focuses a bit too strongly on the importance of frugality in my opinion, but the testimonies and stories on the need to vigilantly resist materialistic peer pressure and fight the urge to earn and spend are eye openers for anyone who’s ever wanted to become wealthy, financially free, and possibly even become a millionaire one day.

4) The Money Book For The Young, Fabulous, and Broke by Suze Orman – I highly recommend Suze Orman financial books for beginners. For those who don’t already do so, I also recommend watching the Suze Orman Show on CNBC every week (her show is actually more entertaining than Dave Ramsey’s show in my opinion). Some people criticize her for the way she berates her readers and viewers on the bad financial decisions they make, but I think I think it’s frequently well deserved. None of Suze Orman’s advice is ever ground breaking or particularly inspirational, but she does a great job of making difficult to understand subjects palatable for beginners and newbies to personal finance.

This particular book focuses almost exclusively on the financial needs and situations of young adults – addressing the needs of students and young adults in their 20’s and 30’s, struggling with credit card debt, credit reports, and student loans. However, with its emphasis on introductory financial topics, the book is also quite suitable for even older readers looking to dip their feet into personal finance. Click on the title link above for more Suze Orman books on a variety of introductory financial subjects, pre-chewed and presented for your reading pleasure.

5) The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing by Larimore, Lindauer, & LeBoeuf - The title of the book – “Bogleheads” – refers to folks who admire John Bogle, founder of the world renown Vanguard mutual fund investment company. If you want to educate yourself on the most important fundamentals of stock investing, this book will deliver that to you. While not particularly earth shattering for personal finance veterans, the book’s lessons are must reads for those new to investing and those who are currently too scared to get started. The book’s main themes focuses on the investment advice and philosophies of legendary John Bogle and addresses the long term investment benefits of diversification, asset allocation, low cost and low fees, and index funds. I know the book’s subject matter sounds rather techy and dry, but the financial advice it offers up is excellent and the writing style is remarkably entertaining and easy to read – making it one of the most definitive but yet accessible personal finance books on investing out there.

6) The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach – As the title makes clear, the author is a big proponent of the need to automate one’s financial life. After reading this book, one of things I came away with is that there are really no secrets to becoming wealthy and no special get rich schemes that can get me there quicker. All that’s really required is a bit of money saving common sense, the ability to live within your means, and the understanding that you must “pay yourself first”. One of the most crucial and emphasized principles of Automatic Millionaire is the need to avoid the so-called “Latte Factor”. To have the ability to save up enough to make contributions towards a retirement plan or savings account, one must make the affirmative decision to stop racking up debt and reduce spending on day to day expenses such as on frivolous and wasteful items like coffees, lattes, and cigarettes. This book is highly recommended and a must read for those looking to start saving for the future and those interested in starting up a retirement account by opening a Roth or IRA. The advice David Bach offers is quite excellent and recommended for both beginners and seasoned personal finance readers looking for a refresher course.

7) Debt is Slavery by Michael Mihalik – The message of this poignantly titled book is exceedingly clear – money is a powerful and liberating tool, but it can also shackle you and bind you into a life of miserable servitude. The philosophies that author Michael Mihalik writes in this book are succinct and direct but all are designed to force you, the reader, into a call for action to gain control of your finances and get rid of the shackles of bad debt. In fact, one of the most interesting and somewhat controversial concepts in the book is the author’s distinction between good debt (loans that will produce value – college student loans or loans to start a business) and bad debt (loans such as credit card debt accrued to fund an unsustainable and unaffordable lifestyle).

If you want a personal finance book that will help you understand and respond to the terrible problem of consumer debt, turn to this easy to read book. Perhaps the next time you pull out that trusty credit card to make a purchase, you’ll be reminded of the mantra – “debt is slavery” (* insert loud thunder crack *).

8) The Joy of Simple Living by Jeff Davidson – This book is a perfect resource for someone like my mother. As I have griped in prior blog posts, my mom is a chronic lifelong hoarder and a person who seems to find more and improved ways to make her life more complex and difficult. For someone like that in your life (maybe that person is you), this nice yellow book contains over a thousand very actionable methods, broken down into specific topics, to simplify all aspects of life and home. Rather than merely share philosophies and theories of frugality and simplicity, The Joy of Simple Living offers specific tips and techniques on how we can all eliminate clutter, streamline our work habits, save money, organize our possessions, and ease our mind to eliminate stress. It’s a handy book.

9) The Only Investment Guide You’ll Ever Need by Andrew Tobias – When it comes to sound investment advice, some things never change. Andrew Tobias helps you navigate the convoluted world of treasury bills, municipal bonds, mutual funds, and Roth IRA accounts without making the subjects too dry or difficult to understand. The crux of his preachings encourages readers to save as much as possible, and put those savings into safe, no load, and diversified mutual funds for the long term. Don’t go around betting and speculating on individual stocks because all that will lead to is you losing your money.

I didn’t expect it to be, but the book was actually a pretty entertaining read, although sometimes Tobias’ witty writing style and jocular side commentaries had a tendency to cloud up the personal finance message intended. But overall, the book is an excellent introduction to the nuances of personal finance and does a great job of keeping the reader attentive and continuously interested.

10) Real Money By Jim Cramer – Straight from the crazy CNBC financial guru/lunatic who got famously hammered on the air by Jon Stewart – comes Real Money, by the emotional booya man himself – Jim Cramer. I know some say that Jim Cramer has lost all credibility in the eyes of serious investors due to his propensity and history of offering dubious advice, but the fact of the matter is that while he is definitely starting to attract a growing cadre of haters, he still attracts a very loyal investor following and knows a lot about the business. Honestly, individual stock picking isn’t for everyone, but if you’ve ever wanted to know more about the science and psychology behind this somewhat risky business, you might as well learn it from a very entertaining author on the subject.

The reality is that there is no one out there who has a perfect stock picking record and frankly, such an activity is really an educated crap shoot. But Jim Cramer’s Real Money and his other books are still fairly decent guide books chocked full of very good investing advice – tidbits such as, you shouldn’t risk your life savings in the stock market and most definitely not in any single stock. It’s one of the few books out there where you may just wind up loving and hating it at the same time. Try it for a spin.

11) The Richest Man in Babylon by George Clason – When I first started reading The Richest Man in Babylon, like many people, I was initially taken back by the compactness of the book and the weird story. But after having read it, I must say, I really enjoyed it. This book should be read by everyone from high school students to corporate executives alike – it’s that enlightening and all encompassing. Essentially the book contains a series of parables set in ancient Babylon. It teaches all the principles of basic personal finance and money management through the use of these classic life lessons. By reading the very entertaining stories, you gradually begin to see parallels in your life and gain a better understanding of how good and bad habits affect how one spends, lends, budgets, and invests money. This book was originally written in the 1920’s, but the fictional stories and life lessons imparted are still very relevant today.

12) The Wealthy Barber by David Chilton - If you enjoyed the preceding title, The Richest Man in Babylon, then you will definitely enjoy The Wealthy Barber as well. This book is written as a novel built around a central story plot set inside of a barber shop, with personal financial self help lessons sprinkled throughout. Some of the stories have characters engaging in discussions regarding important financial concepts such as proper saving habits, investing strategy, and tips on buying a house. The book offers the usual rehashed financial advice that other books offer, but with clear practical examples and in narrative form. If you are intimidated by traditional financial books about money, then this book’s conversational story book form will definitely appeal to you. It’s a great book about money and life for beginners to the subject.

13) The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham & Jason Zweig – Praised by billionaire Warren Buffet as the best book on investing ever written, The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham is that good. This current revised edition contains additional modern day commentary by author Jason Zweig who applies the classic principles to modern day relevance. If you are a speculative day trader looking for short term trading tips, look elsewhere. This book focuses exclusively on the fundamentals of long term value investing and the importance of buying undervalued stocks of great companies for the long term. This book offers a tremendous amount of investment wisdom but is rather dense and comprehensive. Some say it’s a bit technical, but I didn’t find that to be the case (but I’m pretty comfortable with occasional numbers).

14) What Color is Your Parachute? by Richard Bolles – Year after year, the author releases a new updated revised edition of this bible of sorts for job hunters and career change seekers, one that is always chocked full of new advice and resources. The current edition was clearly written with job loss sufferers of the current economic recession in mind as it contains plenty of advice on how to cope and save money in difficult times. This book is an excellent read for anybody who is actively searching for a job or contemplating a career change. The book services as a career guidance counselor that helps you discover your true aptitude, based on your skills, talents, and interest – to help you find a profession that maximizes your potential. The author’s writing style is very thorough and complete, and some people might be slightly turned off by the way he painstakingly hand holds the reader through every explanation in great obvious detail. But regardless, the Parachute series of self help books is a great resource and offers great advice on how to approach prospective employers, tackle interviews, and discover your true calling.

15) A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton Malkiel – Don’t be fooled. This best selling book is a must read for those who want to understand more about why it’s nearly impossible to beat the market and why following the advice of so-called stock picking gurus can be detrimental to your financial health. This book discusses the famed random walk theory and dives into the intricacies of behavioral finance, which studies the social psychology of investment decisions – with reviews and discussions of past historical stock market bubbles and investment crazes. The message of the book is clear – the market, while not perfectly efficient, is efficient enough to make it very difficult and extremely cost prohibitive to beat. At the end of the day, a savvy investor is better off holding an extremely broad basket of  all available market index funds for the long term than trying to seek out the undervalued stocks and hidden gems. This book will make you think twice the next time you blindly adhere to the financial tips that you glean from popular financial publications and financial quacks on TV. In most cases, picking individual stocks is really just a flip of the coin and a prayer. According to the author, these sources have absolutely zero predictive value in the success of individual stocks.

The book is somewhat more technical than some people might like, but I think the average reader can handle the basic charts, graphs, and ratios introduced in the text. The book is definitely not a short or quick read, but it will definitely make you think. I definitely recommend it.

16) The Complete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn - This book by Amy Dacyczyn, a self proclaimed “frugal zealot”, is the ultimate bible of frugality if there ever was one. Completely actionable, this detailed guidebook offers thousands of money saving ideas for everything imaginable, from the simple and common-sensical to the absolute extreme and borderline cheap. Unlike some of the other personal finance books that focus on intangible concepts and motivational philosophies, The Complete Tightwad Gazette is a step by step guide on how to save money in everything that you do in life. If you are already a thrifty guy or gal, this book will frankly blow you away in reverence. Her tips and advice on how to save money on food and household groceries are particularly useful in this current economy.

17) Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki – Almost everyone and their uncle who has ever been interested in personal finance or money has either read or heard about Rich Dad Poor Dad by motivational guru Robert Kiyosaki. In all of its controversial glory, it’s become quite a lightening rod for fans and critics alike. The book uses the story (the truth of this testimony is still up for debate) of two fathers, the author’s own dad, and his best friend’s father, each who dealt with money differently – to highlight the need for a new approach to achieve financial freedom and success in today’s climate.

Personally, after having read it a few times over the years, I continue to have mixed feelings about the book. It’s an admittedly motivational and rather fascinating read, but there are very few truly practical or actionable lessons in the book to take away. There is a call to action in the book, an urge to seek out higher income producing assets, but the author is rather light on specifics and makes such efforts sound too simplistic. One thing that readers must keep in mind is that the book was written during the whole real estate bubble and housing hype era. Much of the cash flow and passive income messages in the book center around Kiyosaki’s own successes in real estate purchases and sales during the booming era. Frankly, I have reservations whether those same sentiments are still entirely relevant in today’s depressed housing market. But despite its flaws, the book remains inspirational and a rather reluctant must read. Go read it and you’ll know what I mean.

18) How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie – The book was first published during the World War 2 era, but even today, it is still a dominant bestselling classic. Some things in life, particularly those that involve the interplay of human emotions and social interaction, remain timeless and forever relevant. Same species, different decade – know what I mean?

So why is this title included on a list of the best personal finance books you might ask? After all, this particular title is not directly related to the issue of money, fiscal responsibility, or investing. Well, I believe personal finance and the pursuit of financial freedom goes far behind just dollar signs and percentages. It also encompasses issues of psychology, life’s motivation, and emotional drive towards the pursuit of this ever elusive happiness. To acquire this happiness, the human and relationship elements are ever present. After all, financial success, as the author notes quite astutely, is mostly due to the “the ability to express ideas, to assume leadership, and to arouse enthusiasm among people.”

The book is filled with incredibly practical anecdotes that illustrate the best way to respond and maximize the relationship building opportunity in almost every situation. It doesn’t matter if you are a corporate tycoon, a church leader, or a college student on the rise, this book will guide you in your inevitable relationships and social objectives. The book is not exactly a thrilling page turner with exciting cliff hangers at every twist, but it’s an essential read for life long success.

Borrow Money Or Invest In Interest Earning P2P Loans With Lending Club

With the lowering of interest rates by the Federal Reserve in response to the current economic climate to the lowest levels we have seen in years, the interest rates offered by high yield savings accounts and high interest certificate of deposits are now simply not as attractive as they once were, only a few years ago. With the stock market still suffering from unstable price swings and massive volatility across all sectors, it makes present day sense to look towards alternative investment ideas to make some money.

While I have been a quiet Lending Club member for a few years now since the online company opens its doors to loan investors, I haven’t felt the need to review the program until now. Until recently, the top high yield savings account and best CD rates at most banking institutions offered a reliably consistent rate of return on deposits. But with market turmoil ever present and the specter of worsening bank failures looming, I’ve begun to turn my attention to other investment possibilities in an attempt to diversify my portfolio risk and seek a higher rate of return. The ability to earn a reasonably competitive interest income with the added ability to diversify risk via peer to peer lending networks like Lending Club and Prosper is becoming more and more attractive. At the very least, P2P lending programs offer potential profit seeking investors like myself the ability to play the role of the banker and help people out with their loan needs, while at the same time earning interest income that’s higher than what’s currently available in a regular savings account or bank CD.

What Is Lending Club and What’s P2P Lending and Borrowing All About?

Lending Club is a person to person, also known as a peer-to-peer, lending website that matches ordinary borrowers with ordinary local lenders (who are ordinary people themselves) through a pairing system that combines social networking, a computerized search algorithm, and manual credit worthiness checks. Essentially, Lending Club is a way to offer low interest loan rates to borrowers with good credit, while at the same time offering willing potential lenders like you and I the ability to earn a reasonably high interest rate of return with a relatively low risk of default on the loans that we extend to these borrowers. It’s an alternative way (that’s growing in popularity) for ordinary Americans to borrow money, get qualified, and get funded for loans expediently without the complex hassles of applying for traditional bank loans or having to deal with the riskier side of 0% balance transfer credit card offers or getting mired into the clutches of payday loans. On the whole, Lending Club offers borrowers better interest rates than can be obtained from any credit card offer, even those that purport to be low interest.

The whole business concept behind P2P lending networks like Lending Club is built on the premise that borrowers will be less likely to default to members of their own local communities. The Lending Club online system offers anonymous borrowers and local micro loan lenders a way to find each other and get matched up based on personal preferential demographic factors like geographic location, educational and professional background, and activity within a particular social network like Facebook (the social networking site where Lending Club had its upstart roots).

Still don’t believe Lending Club or peer to peer lending and borrowing programs are legit? Just take a look at a recent article from the Harvard Business Review, which notes the remarkable rise of peer to peer lending programs and documents the rise of such emerging programs as the next big wave of important financial innovations in the coming years, especially in light of the ongoing economic recession and the collapse of traditional lending institutions. It looks like P2P lending is here to stay, one way or another.

My Lending Club Experience – Investing In High Interest Bearing Loans

As a person who’s always up for trying out new financial products, I signed up for Lending Club when it first came out and have been using the online service ever since. So far, my Lending Club experience has been pretty positive, yielding fairly respectable returns in the process. Currently, my entire Lending Club participation has only been that of a lender and I have yet to participate as a borrower. However, while I can’t comment on Lending Club through my own personal experiences as a borrower, I have had numerous extended online conversations with actual people who have used the Lending Club service for their borrowing needs, primarily to help pay down existing high interest debt. Most of the Lending Club borrowers I’ve come into contact with have been pretty receptive to the user-friendliness of the Lending Club online platform and pleased with the convenient access to reasonably priced loans that the website affords, particularly when compared to last ditch lending alternatives like car title loans or payday cash advances.

One of the reasons why I slightly prefer Lending Club over other peer to peer lending networks – is its non-eBay auction-like nature. Having to engage in a convoluted bidding process for loan offers or loan investment prospects would inject too much complexity into an online loan matching process that’s trying to cater to the ordinary masses. Fortunately for investors in particular, Lending Club offers its loans on a take it or leave it store front basis. If you find a loan and the credit characteristics and interest rate of return strikes your fancy, you can buy it on the spot, or pass.

As primarily an experimental investor and cautious lender, I have mostly sought out high quality, lower risk of default type loans. As a relatively risk adverse lender with an infrequent appetite for riskier loans, I am not to keen on the prospect of any of my loan investments ever defaulting. However, at the same time, I understand that it’s a trade off – safer loans generally yield much lower interest rates of return, while riskier loans almost always yield much higher rates of return to compensate for the higher risk of default and nonpayment. The vast majority of my Lending Club loans as a lender have been A-grade, personally-chosen loan investments. Thus far, I have stayed away from using Lending Club’s computerized LendingMatch program to pair me with desired loans. I guess I have confidence in my own ability and prefer to retain control, rather than let some computer software do the leg work for me.

Currently, I have a little more than $800 invested into numerous micro loans with local borrowers. I’m always on the look out for high quality, attractive loan prospects but unfortunately, they are not always available. When they do become available, I try to snap them up quickly. These A-grade Lending Club loans have become quite a set of high yielding cash cows for me. Thus far, I’ve been very lucky and relatively fortunate as none of the Lending Club loans that I’ve extended have been significantly late or have entered default. Intriguingly, my Lending Club loans have earned me a steady interest rate of almost 8%, which is 2-3 times higher than what I earn with my best CD rates, best high yield savings, and even best money market accounts. As Lending Club continues to grow in popularity, its borrower base will inevitably grow larger in size, and the volume of attractive loan investments are bound to increase. If my default-free track record holds, I may decide to dabble in slightly riskier Lending Club loans in the near future to see if I can snag a higher rate of return but still maintain my default-free streak. Stay tuned!

For those wondering about the prospect of income taxes levied on the earnings off of Lending Club loans – yes, you are personally responsible for paying ordinary income taxes on all interest income that your Lending Club investing activities generate (you are issued a handy 1099 form at tax time).

Setting Up A New Lending Club Account Is Free and Quick

Opening an account with Lending Club is easy and efficient, and as expedient as opening a new online bank account. To open an account and start lending money through Lending Club, you simply submit your personal information, bank name and bank transfer account numbers, along with some optional background information. Thereafter, the account registration process wraps up with the obligatory bank test deposits to verify true bank account ownership

Opening a new Lending Club account for borrowing purposes on the other hand entails a stricter registration process that necessitates that the applicant provide a Social Security Number and other identifying information for a full credit report and  FICO credit score background check (try looking up your own free FICO credit score beforehand). Though Lending Club imposes a rather strict set of prime standards for borrowers, this attention to credit quality over mere quantity ultimately ensures a better experience and loan exchange for both lenders and borrowers in the long run.

Borrowing Money and Getting A Loan From Lending Club

For prospective qualified borrowers, Lending Club offers an attractive way to obtain a loan at comparatively affordable rates – offers that beat out most personal bank loans and credit card interest rates. However, do be forewarned that Lending Club’s qualification standards for borrowers are high grade and rather stringent. Lending Club pretty much only wants prime, or near prime borrowers with good to excellent credit. Those with very bad or subprime credit are probably out of luck when it comes to Lending Club, and will probably have to resort to less than advisable, bottom tier loan alternatives such as bad credit credit cards or payday loan borrowing.

The process of applying for a Lending Club loan is surprisingly straightforward. Approved Lending Club borrowers get a 3 year unsecured fixed interest rate loan, with repayment obligations managed by Lending Club. There is no haggling or negotiations to contend with as you simply submit an application for a loan, and based on your FICO credit score, credit report, and background check, you are offered a fixed interest rate loan to accept or reject. At Lending Club, you can borrow anywhere from $1,000 to $25,000 as an unsecured loan, to be used for just about any purpose, including but not limited to, high interest credit card repayment or small business financing.

To get started as a Lending Club borrower, simply open a new Lending Club account as a borrower, and submit a loan application. At the time of registration, Lending Club will obtain a credit report and FICO credit score check of the borrower in order to rate and assign a credit risk grade (ranging from A thru G) and determine the appropriate interest rate the borrower can solicit on the site. Once approved, the borrower is free to list his or her loan request on Lending Club for prospective lenders to review and examine. During the credit risk scoring process, particular attention is paid to the borrower’s credit rating history, the amount of the desired loan balance, and the borrower’s current debt to income ratio.

Lending Club’s standards for borrowers are high and the program only currently accepts members who can meet the followings status and credit history requirements:

• Must be a U.S. resident.
• Must have a FICO credit score of at least 660, with a debt to income ratio (excluding mortgage) below 25%.
• Credit history report must indicate that you are a responsible borrower.
• Have at least 1 year of credit history, showing no current delinquencies, recent bankruptcies (7 years), open tax liens, charge-offs or collection accounts in the past 12 months.
• Must have no more than 10 inquiries on your credit report in the last 6 months.
• Must have a revolving credit utilization of less than 100%.
• Must have more than 3 accounts in your credit report, of which more than 2 are currently open.

For their middle man loan matching services, LendingClub charges a processing fee (ranging from 0.75% to 3.50% based on Lending Club’s assessed credit risk grade), which is included in the annual percentage rate (APR) and is subtracted from the loan proceeds prior to disbursement to the borrower.

Lending Money and Earning A Comparatively High Interest Rate On Lending Club Loans

To qualify as a Lending Club loan investor, you must meet and satisfy certain preliminary state and financial suitability conditions – translation: you must belong to an approved state and/or pass certain income and net worth requirements. With exemptions for certain states such as California, you generally must have an annual gross income of $70,000 or a networth (including your home) of at least $250,000.

As for the state residency requirement, you must be a resident of one of the following states below. Your state not on the list? Fear not – Lending Club has submitted proposals to all states and new ones are being added as they are approved.

• California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, Nevada,New York, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

As a prospective Lending Club loan investor, you can start with as little or as much money as you’d like. Once you have opened a Lending  Club account and transferred in the appropriate funds for lending purposes, you will be asked to indicate your level of risk tolerance (credit risk ratings that range from A – G) and prompted to search for loans either manually, or get matched up with prospective loans with the aid of Lending Club’s computer algorithm based LendingMatch software. The Lending Match program generates a suggested loan portfolio based on your level of risk desired and your connections with the borrowers in your account. As mentioned above, I have chosen to stick with manual loan evaluations (with great success thus far) as I feel more comfortable with my own ability to assess loan prospects than entrust that duty to a random computer program.

Those who are new to peer to peer lending may wish to start with small incremental investments and tinker a bit with the seesaw effect of risk and interest rate of return, before diving into larger denominational investments. Those who get the hang of it may actually find the loan investment hunting and evaluation process rather interesting and personally rewarding (remember, you are potentially helping out someone who is in desperate need of a loan to get his or her life going again).

There are two loan components that will be of paramount importance to prospective Lending Club loan investors – the interest rate of return offered, and the rate of default risk. The current range of interest rates that Lending Club lenders and investors can potentially earn varies from 7.37% to 20.11% (depending on how risky the loan is in terms of risk of default, as determined by the automatically assigned Lending Club loan grade.

The worst case scenario for any Lending Club loan lender or investor is the dreaded loan default, which occurs when the borrower refuses or is unable to fulfill the obligations of his or her loan principle and interest rate repayment. Lending Club’s website indicates that the current overall default rate is less than 3%. However, and probably due to my personal strict and stingy loan evaluation tactics, I have yet to experience a loan default on my Lending Club loan investments. On the downside, I probably earn a much lower interest rate of return on my loan investments than I would be able to garner if I opted to invest in slightly more riskier B and C grade loans.

As a Lending Club loan investor, one of the general statistics and trends I track closely is the company’s continuously generated performance stats for all loans. As you can see from the current Lending Club loan stats, Lending Club does a pretty commendable and transparent job of providing updated statistics relating to all late and defaulted loans for all members to review and assess. As the updated loan default statistics demonstrate, rather surprisingly perhaps, the vast majority of loans (particularly the A graded ones) are current and not late or in default. The B and C loans are also not as horrendous in terms of late payments or defaults as one may have assumed. Those who are into mathematics and willing to play the odds of probability may find it worth the slight risk of partial loan default to capture the higher interest rate of return on their investments. As always, smart Lending Club investors ought to spread their loan investments around to minimize the chances that one unexpected loan default will torpedo their entire Lending Club portfolio.

Lending Club Loans Are Now More Liquid Than Ever And Can Be Traded Like Securities

As Lending Club has completed the SEC registration process, all Lending Club notes and loans issued on or after October 14, 2008 can now be purchased and sold as securities, as they now represent Lending Club security investments rather than direct loan obligations of the underlying Lending Club borrower.

Now instead of waiting for the 3 year locked in loan commitment notes to reach maturity, they can now be traded on the secondary market through Lending Club’s trading platform agreement with FOLIOfn Investments Inc, greatly enhancing their liquidity and versatility as investments. While only loans and notes issued after Lending Club’s October 14, 2008 SEC registration date may be traded, in due time, it is reasonable to expect the number of trade-able notes to balloon in the coming future.

For those concerned about the safety and security of their invested loan funds as a lender in the event of a Lending Club failure or bankruptcy, Lending Club actually addresses this issue on their webpage. According to Lending Club, in the event the company, for whatever reason goes out of business or is no longer able to continue servicing loans, in order to ensure continuity, Lending Club has a backup servicing and successor agreement with Portfolio Financial Servicing Corporation (www.pfsc.com) for PFSC to take over loan servicing.

While the Lending Club business entity itself is still burning through venture capital cash like it’s going out of style, particularly as it focuses on promoting the growth and adoption of peer to peer lending, I personally think the concept of P2P social network lending is here to stay. Whether companies like Prosper or Lending Club will be around forever, or whether they ultimately will be bought out by more traditional banks eager for a piece of the peer lending pie, remains to be seen.

Note: The New Credit Card Rules Do Not Go Into Effect Until July 1, 2010

These days, it seems like whenever there’s a good thing going or some attractive opportunity for pecuniary gain or profit, the masses ultimately swarm the offer like locusts until they’ve completely ruined it for everyone else. This is how I feel about credit cards and the credit card industry. Credit card rewards and interest free balance transfers were once the easiest ways to make some free money on the side, but now that the Feds have enacted the new credit card law, all of that’s about to change.

As a big proponent of credit card use and an eager partaker of reward credit cards, balance transfer deals, and credit card arbitrage, I’ve been taking advantage of all that they’ve had to offer for some time now. Over many years, I’ve applied for and been approved for more than 25 credit cards. I’ve owned, carried, and used most of the major credit cards from Capital One, Bank of America, Citibank, Advanta, Discover Card, to American Express. Throughout college and into adult hood, I’ve used my squadron of credit cards to earn more than $10,000 worth of cash back rewards, redeemed point rewards for countless free gift cards, and accrued more than $15,000 of interest profit from balance transfer arbitrage. At its peak, I was carrying more than $100,000 in total credit card balances at one time, taking advantage of 0% APR credit card funds deposited into a high yield savings account to earn free interest money.

However, despite my aggressive credit card usage history, I’ve never paid a single cent in credit card interest, forked over a single late fee, or suffered a major long term FICO credit score hit. Currently, my FICO credit score stands at a very healthy 802, thanks to my solid credit history and lack of any late payments. In fact, I don’t even know what any of my credit card interest rates are as I’ve never had to deal with them before. I have always paid my monthly card balances in full and on time. As a naturally frugal saver, I’ve always lived within my means and eschewed unnecessary material goods . Since I started using credit cards at the age of 18 and made paying off my regular credit card balances a priority in my life, I’ve never had to pay anything to the credit card companies, and instead have managed to profit immensely from them.

Because of all this, I had mixed feelings when the federal government finally issued the new credit card rules and announced its plan to crack down on allegations of unfair and deceptive credit card practices by the credit card industry. While the new rules have the potential to benefit American consumers and essentially protect them from their own spending stupidity and consumerism negligence, the new changes are likely to rain on my parade and spell the end to the credit card party I’ve been enjoying for the past few years. However, despite my personal misgivings and the potential loss of a key cog of my personal finance arsenal, I think the new credit card rules and regulations were probably long overdue. Like the mortgage industry, the credit card sector has been in serious need of a good shakeup for some time. Lax federal oversight and governmental complacency has allowed the industry to get a bit too lax on basic fairness standards, permitting abusive and egregious predatory credit card practices to go unchecked.

Despite the Current Recession, The New Credit Card Law Don’t Go Into Effect Until Summer Of 2010

As evidenced by the huge credit bubble that finally popped recently, America has had a love affair with debt and leverage for the last two decades. This abundance of credit in all forms caused many to become drunk with highly leveraged spending power, leading many down the path of out of control shopping, and encouraging the tapping of home equity to pay off credit card balances. The credit card industry’s practice of packaging and selling credit card debt to investors and hedge funds encouraged the growth of exorbitant risk penalties, over the credit limit fees, and all sorts of balance transfer and cash advance charges. Driven by the natural pursuit of profits, the credit card issuers eagerly raked in the ever increasing interest charges and late payment fees. Eventually the subprime mortgage crisis destroyed the housing market and in turn caused a chain reaction devastation that led many credit card consumers to no longer be able to handle their credit card payments, leading to a rise in defaults and ballooning non payment scenarios.

Wallowing in their own mismanagement mess and inability to control their spending habits, consumers ultimately turned to the federal government for bailout assistance. After bombarding the Fed with over 65,000 public comments (the highest number ever received by the federal government on any one issue offered up for comments), the Fed finally responded and issued an announcement of its approval of new credit card rules to combat what regulators labeled as unfair or deceptive credit card industry practices.

In its combined action and announcement, the Office of Thrift Supervision, the National Credit Union Administration, and the Federal Reserve Board approved the new credit card rules, sending a financial tsunami through the the banking and credit card industry. From here on, it is clear that these new rules will fundamentally rewrite the way future credit cards are packaged, marketed, and priced for consumers and small businesses. Despite the significant moves, some lingering critics remain displeased at the effective date of the new rules – July 1, 2010 – and argue that consumers need the new rules now to protect them from overbearing credit practices already in place in light of the current ongoing economic recession and not wait until mid-2010 when the recession may already be over. Of course, the industry has indicated that it needs the lengthy amount of time to adapt to these newly enacted regulations.

How Will The New Credit Card Rules and Regulations Affect You and Make Your Debt Reduction Life Easier?

1) No More Interest Rate Hikes On Existing Balances – Previously, as was the routine practice by the credit card issuers in recent years, credit card interest rates could be increased and jacked up on a whim with only a short notice to the customer in one of those fine print letters that nobody ever actually reads. With the new credit card regulations, interest rate hikes will not be permitted on existing balances and rate increases will only be allowed under limited circumstances such as on future purchases, new cash advances, when a promotional or introductory rate ends, or in response to an actual late payment in violation of pre-existing card agreements. This is one of the biggest changes and one that I wholeheartedly agree with. However, as one who has always paid off his card balances on time and has never paid late fees or credit card interest charges, my advice to all is to always pay off balances on time and in full to avoid having to even worry about credit card interest rates to begin with.

2) Interest Rates Cannot Be Raised Until A Payment Is Over 30 Days Late – Under the new credit card rules, interest rates for existing balances can only be increased if there is an outstanding payment that is over 30 days late. This change eliminates the old practice of allowing credit card companies to increase or double your current APR interest simply if you run up a large balance on your cards (to force you to pay those balances off quicker than you’d like). In addition under the new rules, card lenders must give cardholders at least 45 days of advance notice in the event of interest rate changes, including rate hikes due to 30 day late payments or non payment penalties. Previously, card issuers frequently gave notice of 15 days or less.

3) No More Universal Default – Credit card companies will not longer be permitted to raise current interest rates on cardholders simply because of their payment history or track record with other unrelated creditors such as landlords, utility companies, or even with different credit card issuers. Previously, universal default essentially allowed card issuers to raise rates arbitrarily by alleging cardholders had universally defaulted on all existing loans simply with a single violation against one unrelated debt account. While many card issuers like JP Morgan Chase have already discontinued this practice, this new rule compels the rest to follow.

4) No More Double Cycle Billing – While the immensely illogical practice of two cycle or double cycle billing is predominantly already a thing of the past with most card issuers having already abandoned this ridiculous practice, the new rules will officially end the loophole. Double cycle billing is the practice of calculating interest on daily card balances from more than just the previous 30 days. This billing practice hurts consumers who pay off their balances in full in one month but not in the next, because it irrationally averages multiple month balances to generate interest fees for credit card companies. Thus cardholders end up getting hit with finance charges and interest fees from the previous billing cycle even though they have paid the bill in full.

5) Card Payments Applied To Higher Interest Rate Balances First – One of the most significant new changes (and perhaps the most important), will help compel the practice of fair allocation of payments – a great future benefit to consumers, particularly those that engage in 0% balance transfer offers, cash advances, or ATM withdrawals that carry different interest rates. Any new payment above the credit card bill minimum must automatically now apply to the part of the balance with the highest interest first. For those who have multiple balances on the same account at different interest rates, this new rule will prohibit card lenders from applying payments towards lower interest balances first before applying them to the higher interest ones. This will stop the seemingly unfair industry wide practice of applying monthly payments to the cheaper credit card balances first, while letting more expensive balances accrue interest charges at higher rates.

6) Longer Payment Grace Periods Of At Least 21 Days – Credit card issuers will be required to offer consumers  a reasonable amount of time to make payments on monthly credit card bills – at least 21 days after bills are mailed or delivered. This will help protect consumers from shrinking payment periods and give them a reasonable amount of time to make payments before late charges and interest fees are applied. Personally, I don’t even know how long my credit card grace periods are as all my cards are set up with automatic bill payment that automatic pulls money from my linked checking account to ensure I never have a late payment. I highly encourage the use of automated debit payments. It makes life easier and much more hassle free.

7) No More Unreasonable Fees For Exceeding Credit Limit Because Of Hold On Account – This addresses a basic fairness problem some cardholders have been experiencing, particularly those who travel a lot. Oftentimes when consumers make reservations for rental cars or hotel rooms, merchants will place a hold for a certain credit limit amount on credit cards as a security deposit beyond the purchase amount. While the security deposit hold is in effect, the card’s credit limit is temporarily reduced, making it more likely for the cardholder to accidentally exceed his or her credit limit in the meantime with additional charges and thereby incurring an over the limit charge or fee. The new rules do away with excessive fees in such a scenario.

8) Limitations On Bad Credit Credit Card Fees - This new credit card rule change has the potential to reign in fees for subprime credit cards big time. Subprime credit cards that target people with bad credit will no longer be allowed to charge hefty upfront fees with the new limitations. What was happening was that these subprime credit cards (high interest cards for people with low credit scores with $500 credit limits) were charging applicants with upfront fees that totaled half the credit limit and demanding fee payment in less than a year. The new regulation will severely reign in these fees, but essentially eliminating the future of credit card offers for people with bad credit altogether.

9) Disclosure Of Foreign Currency Transaction Fees – While most people are not aware, international credit card users have had to pay extra fees for credit card transactions charged overseas in foreign currency denominations. While these extra foreign currency fee charges remain perfectly legitimate, the new rules require issuers to clearly list the fees and do a better job of publicizing then to the consumer so that it doesn’t come to them as a surprise.  The disclosure of all fees charged for purchasing goods or services in a foreign currency or for using the credit card outside of the United States will need to be made on a table on credit card applications and marketing solicitations, and not just in tiny fine print when the account is initially opened.

10) Better Overall Disclosure of Credit Card Terms and Conditions -  The new federal rules will require all credit card terms to be disclosed and marketed more clearly to consumers. Card issuers will need to clearly disclose and provide notice regarding important terms and conditions like payment due dates and times, as well as how interest rates and fees will be applied to those making only minimum payments each month. Some credit card issuers have been sneakily shifting around payment due dates and mandating arbitrary payment times, such as setting cut off times at 1:00 pm or on a weekend or holiday. These rules will prohibit such unreasonable and arbitrary practices. As mentioned above, any change to existing credit card terms will need to be expressly disclosed to the consumer at last 45 days before they take effect.

Goodbye Credit Card Rewards, Introductory Teaser Rates, and 0% Balance Transfer Credit Card Offers

The new credit card regulations issued by the federal government will have a significant negative impact on the credit card industry and the future of credit card use in the United States and elsewhere as issuers re-evaluate their existing business and risk pricing models. Because the new rules will severely restrict the ability of card issuers to modify pre-existing interest rates and card terms in response to changes they perceive as credit risk factors (known as interest rate pre-pricing), it is likely all new credit card interest rates will increase as a result, along with a severe reduction in credit availability. All existing rates in place prior to the effective date of July 1, 2010 will likely go up tremendously as well (even for those with excellent credit history scores). Because the new rules do not mandate a ceiling on how much credit card issuers can actually charge for interest fees or late payments, consumers are likely going to be slapped with even higher rates from hereon. With the credit card industry, it comes down to profitability and redistribution of costs. Because of the new rule changes, credit card issuers are likely going to lose a significant amount of money (more than $10 billion a year) in lost interest payments and fees. Instead of eating up the loss and taking their lumps, they are likely going to pass them onto consumers through stiffer interest rates and less favorable credit card reward terms.

The new regulations will have several unintended but perfectly foreseeable consequences as well, including a severe reduction or complete elimination of popular low interest deals, 0% APR balance transfers, and 0% purchase credit card offers, even for those with very high credit scores. The new rules greatly favor those who are irresponsible with credit card usage and those who were never meant to carry credit cards to begin with, and will punish the prime borrowers by eliminating the vast majority of all cash back credit card offers and interest free promotions. Only time will tell whether all such offers will be eliminated en masse, or whether the industry will be able to find a way to stay profitable and continue to offer purchase and usage incentives for consumers.

Despite the fairness benefits of the new credit card rules, here are some of the ways the changes will negatively affect credit worthy consumers:

• It will be much more difficult to qualify for credit cards as credit availability in compliance with the new rules will dry up.
• Substantially higher credit card interest rates overall, even for those with excellent credit scores – primarily to compensate the card issuers for their loss of income under the new rules.
• No more 12 month zero percent balance transfer offers with no balance transfer fees – likely to be replaced with high balance tranfer fees or low interest credit card offers instead.
• There will be a signficiant scaleback of credit card rewards, cash back incentives, and frequent flyer airline mile programs for responsible credit card use. Goodbye juicy credit card promotions.
• Severe reduction or total elimination of bad credit cards, forcing those with poor credit to seek higher credit and riskier options such as payday loans or pay day cash advance.

As always with life, it seems financially responsible individuals such as myself always seem to get the shaft. It’s always the bad home mortgage borrowers, bad credit card users, or the irresponsible spenders who ultimately get bailed out by the government – taking all the credit card goodies enjoyed by the responsible credit card consumers with them.

Updated List Of The Best Secured and Unsecured Bad Credit Cards For Credit Improvement

Credit card usage is a fact of life whether you agree with its pervasiveness and all around commercial necessity or not. What started out as a way for consumers to make payments quickly and efficiently without the need to carry around cash bills and coins has morphed into a mish mash variety of credit card rewards, airline credit card miles, and balance transfer offers. Today, credit cards are used and needed for everything from airline ticket and hotel room reservations to car rental bookings. Credit card numbers are also necessary for frequent online shoppers as traditional bank accounts and debit cards don’t offer the same high degree of fraud protection that credit card issuers do. Owning at least one credit card and paying back the balance on a regular basis is also one of the easiest and most established ways to build up a credit score history, and secure your future ability to get approved for home mortgages and car loans.

Even those who are generally opposed to the use of credit cards and revolving debt on principle may find it difficult at times to survive without one. During tough economic times, independent minded people such as myself have used credit cards as emergency fund money to weather momentary periods of unemployment instead of relying on family handouts or resorting to desperate measures like high interest payday loans.

Of course, tapping into the myriad of credit card programs available in the marketplace requires that you be credit worthy and reliable as a borrower, as reflected by your existing FICO credit score, the 3 digit numerical expression most commonly used by credit card issuers and loan officers to evaluate your ability to pay back debt based on past payment history. Those with high FICO credit scores naturally have the inside fast track to the best credit card offers featuring the lowest interest rates with most lucrative cash back reward tantalizers, but even those with poor credit scores or a damaged credit history still have viable options at their disposal. While credit card issuers are significantly more leery about lending credit to those with troubled pasts, it’s not impossible for those with no credit history or those with bad credit to obtain a credit card, although it will probably cost you. Those with poor credit must recognize that the bad credit or subprime credit cards will almost certainly demand higher interest rates, annual fees, and account maintenance charges than regular consumer or business credit cards. However, the stiffer terms are necessary to compensate credit card issuers for the extra credit risk they must take on to lend money to applicants with less than perfect credit.

Secured and Prepaid Credit Cards Provide Credit Options To Those Denied For Regular No Fee, Low Interest, Unsecured Credit Cards

Those with out of control shopping obsessions, with damaged credit histories and no self control when it comes to credit card use, should stay away from applying for credit cards altogether, bad credit cards or otherwise. However, those with limited or no credit history, or those with a less than stellar past when it comes to debt, who wish to improve their credit scores may want to consider credit card programs set up to help cardholders rebuild, repair, and improve their credit for the better. Because people who have never used credit or those who need to repair a poor credit history may not qualify for regular card terms, applying for either a high interest unsecured credit card, a deposit-secured credit card, or even a prepaid credit card may be the only way to establish or re-establish credit. These so-called bad credit credit cards in all their variety provide cardholders the ability to maintain their access to the day to day consumerism benefits of credit card usage and take steps towards salvaging their financial lives and credit histories. By making regular monthly payments towards their secured or prepaid credit cards, their FICO credit scores are likely to see improvements, allowing them the opportunity in a few months time to possibly qualify for a regular consumer card with substantially more favorable terms.

Of course at the same time, it’s important to bear in mind that if you fail to meet your bad credit credit card’s monthly payment obligations, you will likely be hit with stiffer fees and interest payment demands resulting in further deterioration of your credit rating. But those with poor or damaged credit who are genuinely planning on walking the straight and narrow path to improving their credit status will benefit from the poor credit credit card programs listed below. Even in this current tough economic climate amidst the credit crisis, there are still ways to approach debt usage responsibly.

The Best Unsecured Credit Cards For People With Average Or Slightly Bad Credit In Need Of Improvement (Low Fees, But Require Average Credit):

If your credit is merely average or could use some improvement, then applying for an unsecured credit card designed for those with average credit may be your best option. These cards still provide a reasonable array of reward offers without the hassle of overly high annual fees or extraneous charges. The only downside is that compared to their excellent or good credit card comparables, the credit cards for those with average credit tend to have lower and more modest credit limits ($1,000-$3,000).

1. Capital One Classic Platinum Mastercard – Get an introductory 0% APR interest rate for purchases until June 2009, and a relatively low rate thereafter. Both the Visa and Mastercard versions only require average credit for approval. There is an annual fee of $19.
2. Capital One Platinum Master Card – Enjoy a promotional 0% interest rate offer for all card purchases until June 2009, and a very low rate thereafter. Only average credit is needed for approval. There is an annual fee of $39.
3. Capital One Platinum Max (SM) Credit Card – Average credit applicants will receive a competitive fixed interest rate for 3 years. The annual fee is $19.
4. Capital One Standard Platinum Credit Card – Get an introductory 0% rate on all purchases until June 2009. The best part – there is no annual fee for this particular Capital One credit card offer.
5. Capital One No Hassle Cash Rewards – One of the few reward credit cards that only require average credit to apply. Earn 1% cashback on all purchases and an extra 25% annual bonus on the cash you earn during the year. Get a 0% purchase rate until June 2009. Annual fee is $29.
6. Capital One No Hassle Point Rewards – Even with average credit, you can still qualify for this reward card, and earn 5 reward points per dollar spent at gas stations, grocery stores, and drug stores. The annual fee is $29.

The Best Unsecured Credit Cards For People With Poor Or Bad Credit (No Deposit Required, But Need To Pay Attention To Fees):

Those with a troubled credit history or those with a bad track record of timely credit card payments may have to resort to higher annual fee unsecured card options. Credit card issuers that cater to the bad credit or subprime market are willing to extend you credit, but will undoubtedly demand more restrictive terms and conditions in exchange for the higher risk. While the unsecured cards listed below do not demand a potentially hefty upfront deposit, many do require higher maintenance charges. Of course, despite the higher fees, the very purpose of applying for bad credit credit cards is to help you improve your credit usage history so that one day you can upgrade to a more traditional card program in 12 months or so.

1. Orchard Bank MasterCard – This card is issued by HSBC and the application process features a custom Orchard Bank subprime card finder for those with bad credit in need of assistance in rebuilding their credit. The credit cards available include those with and without fees, and vary in terms of account processing charges. Please carefully read the fine print regarding the card programs available before applying.
2. Continental Finance Gold MasterCard - With this First Bank of Delaware credit card offer, those with poor credit histories can still get a second chance at a low interest unsecured credit card. Please read the terms and conditions carefully regarding account fees. While there are upfront charges, timely payments on your part will result in automatic credit limit increases over time.
3. Tribute Gold Mastercard – This card was designed for those with low credit scores and bad credit in mind as it periodically reports to the major credit bureaus to help you rebuild your history. Please read the terms carefully regarding the various bad credit credit cards available for applicants.
4. Continental Finance Mastercard – This unsecured bad credit card provides semi annual credit limit increases with monthly reporting to the credit agencies. Despite the upfront charges and fees, the monthly credit bureau reporting feature should be able to help cardholders rebuild their credit in time. As always, please read the terms carefully before applying.
5. Horizon Gold Credit Card – This unsecured credit card offer guarantees a $500 credit limit for those already with an active debit or credit card established in their name. Designed for those with poor credit, there is no credit check for card approval. There is automatic enrollment into a free trial of the ConsumerDirect identity protection program, but you can easily cancel within 5 days for free with no obligation. Please read the fine print carefully before making your decision to proceed.

The Best Secured Credit Cards For People With Very Bad Or Damaged Credit (Security Deposit Needed):

While there is a growing trend away from secured cards and towards unsecured cards with lower credit limits and higher interest rates and fees, secured credit cards still remain a viable option for those with nowhere else to turn for credit. Unlike an unsecured card, a secured credit card requires an upfront cash collateral deposit that becomes the credit limit for your account (for example if you deposit $500, your credit limit is $500). While the deposit is held by the card issuer for security, the deposit generally earns interest and is refundable once the cardholder no longer wants to access the secured credit line. Of course, because all secured credit cards charge an annual fee, it’s important to shop around and compare.

1. Bank of America Secured Visa Card – Provided by Bank of America, an established name in the credit card business, this secured credit card offer from BoA allows you to set your own credit limit depending on your deposit amount. The annual fee is $29 but with timely payments, this card can be a stepping stone for you to rebuild or reestablish your credit.
2. New Millennium Bank Secured Platinum Visa/Mastercard – Your secured credit limit will be equal to the balance in your interest bearing collateral savings account with New Millennium Bank. Minimum deposit is $300 and the maximum deposit is $5,000 per card. Your credit history will not be checked and you are guaranteed to be approved for this secured credit card offer.
3. New Millennium Bank Secured Black Diamond Visa/Mastercard – All of the New Millenium Bank secured credit card offers on this page offer the same terms regarding secured credit limits, fees, and charges. As always, please thoroughly read the credit card terms and conditions in the tiny print before applying.
4. New Millennium Bank Secured Gold Visa/Mastercard – Like the other NMB secured credit cards, the Gold Visa and Mastercards are meant for those with very bad or damaged credit who are unable to get approved for a credit card elsewhere. While there are upfront fees and regular account charges, steady on time payments will help you repair your credit history and help you reach your goal of ultimately upgrading to a regular card with substantially lower interest rates and better terms.
5. Applied Bank Secured Visa Credit Card – Get a low fixed rate with this secured credit card for poor credit history applicants. As with all secured credit cards, your credit limit is determined by your refundable security deposit. Remember to read the terms carefully regarding fees and processing charges.
6. Applied Bank Secured Visa Gold Card – The Gold card is basically the same as the regular Applied Bank secured credit card, with the same terms and conditions regarding fees and charges.