A personal loan can be used for most purposes, including debt consolidation, home improvement projects, and medical bills. Interest rates are typically far cheaper than credit card APRs, making them an attractive𒀰 option, especially for borrowers without collateral.

However, personal loans are usually more expensive than other options, such as home equity loans, especially if you have less-than-stellar credit. Here's how to decide if a personal loan is right for you.

How Personal Loans Work

A personal loan is typically an 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:unsecured loan, which means that the lender does not require 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:collateral—a home or a car, for example—to borrow money. However, with unsecured loans, the lender takes a greater risk and will most likely charge a higher interest rate than a secured loan. How high your rate will be can depend on several factors, including your 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:credit score and 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:debt-to-income ratio.

Some banks offer 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:secured personal loans; the collateral can be your bank account, car, or other property. A secured personal loan may be easier to qualify for and carry a somewhat lower interest rate than an unsecured one. As with any other secured loan, you may lose your collateral if you are unable to keep up with the payments.

Even with an unsecured personal loan, 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:failing to make timely payments can harm your credit score and severely limit your ability to obtain credit in the future. FICO, the company behind the most widely used credit score, says that your payment history is the single most important factor in its formula, accounting for 35% of your credit score.

When To Consider a Personal Loan

Before you opt for a personal loan, you'll want to consider whether there may be less expensive options to borrow money. Some reasons for choosing a personal loan are:

• You don't have or couldn't qualify for a low-interest credit card.
• The credit limits on your credit cards don't meet your current borrowing needs.
• A personal loan is your least expensive borrowing option.
• You don't have any collateral to offer.

You might also consider a personal loan if you need to borrow for a fairly short and well-defined period of time. Personal loans typically run from 12 to 60 months. So, for example, if you have a lump sum of money due to you in two years but not enough cash flow in the meantime, a two-year personal loan could be a way to bridge that gap.

Here are fi🧸ve more ex🍸amples of when a personal loan might make sense.

1. Consolidating Credit Card Debt

If you owe a substantial balance on one or more high-interest-rate credit cards, taking out a personal loan to pay them off could save you money. For example, the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:average in🥃terest rate on a credit card is 24.20% as of April 2025, while the average rate on a personal loan is 11.66%. 🅰That difference should allow you to pay the balance down faster and pay less interest in total. Plus, it's easier to pay off a single debt obligation rat✱her than multiple ones.

However, a personal loan is not your only option. Instead, you might be able to transfer your balances to a new credit card with a low🐓er interest rate if you qualify.

2. Paying off Other High-Interest Debts

A personal loan is more expensive than other loan types, but it isn't necessarily the most expensive. For example, a payday loan is likely to carry a muc💜h higher interest rate than a personal loan from a bank. Similarly, if you have an older personal loan🔥 with a higher interest rate than you would qualify for today, replacing it with a new loan could save you some money.

However, before you replace a loan, be sure to find out whether there's a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:prepayment penalty on the old loan or application or origination fees on the new one, which can somet🍨imes be substantial.

3. Financing a Home Improvement or Big Purchase

If you're buying new appliances, installing a new heater, or making another major purchase, taking out a personal loan could be cheaper than financing through the seller or putting the bill on a credit card.

But, if you have any equity built up in your home, a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:home-equitღy loan or home-equity line of credit could🏅 still be less expensive. Of course, those are both secured debts, so you'll be putting your home on the lin♓e.

4. Paying for a Major Life Event

As with any major purchase, financing an expensive event, such as a bar or bat mitzvah, a major milestone anniversary party, or a wedding, could be less expensive if you pay for it with a personal loan rather than a credit card. According to a 2021 survey by Brides and Investopedia, one in five U.S. couples will use loans or investments to help pay for their wedding.

As important as these events are, you may consider scaling costs back somewhat if it means going into debt for years to pay it off. For that same reason, borrowing to fund a vacation may not be the best idea unless it's the trip of a lifetime.

5. Improving Your Credit Score

Taking out a personal loan and paying it off promptly could help improve your credit score, especially if you have a history of missed payments on other debts. If your credit report shows mostly credit card debt, adding a personal loan might also help your “credit mix.” Having different types of loans and showing that you can handle them responsibly is considered a plus for your score.

That said, borrowing money you don't really need in the hope of improving your credit score is a dangerous proposition. Better to keep paying all your other bills on time while also trying to maintain a low 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:credit utilization ratio (i.e., the amount of cred🦩it you are using at any given time compared with t🌳he amount available to you).

How Do People Use Personal Loans?

cnjem.commissioned 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:a national survey of 962 U.S. adults between Aug. 14, 2023, and Sept. 15, 2023, who had taken out a personal loan to learn how they used their loan proceeds and how they might use future personal loans. Debt consolidation was the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:most♑♐ common reason people borrowed money, followed by home improvement and other large expenditures.

When Shouldn't You Use a Personal Loan?

Personal loans can be used for almost any purpose, but there are 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:a few exceptions. Most lenders will not allow you to use personal loans for the following purposes:

• Educational expenses, including tuition, room, board, and student loan debt
• A down payment on a house
• Business expenses
• Investing
• Gambling

In addition, you may want to avoid using a personal loan to pay basic living expenses, as this can lead to a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:debt spiral. Us꧙e income to pay for regular expen🗹ses whenever possible to avoid accumulating debt.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

The Bottom Line

Personal loans can be useful in many circumstances. They aren't cheap, and there might be better alternatives. If you're considering one, Investopedia's 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:personal loan calculator can helꦍp you determine what it would cost you and whether it fits into your monthly budget.