From the 15-year fixed rate mortgage to other types of home loans to even small business loans and auto loans, there are many loans being regularly taken out all throughout the United States. Loans are typically for large purchases, such as that of a home or a car, for which the vast majority of all people are simply not able to front the full cost of at the time of the purchase. By taking out a loan, you’ll be able to put a down payment on a property without going into debt and parting with all of the money in your bank account and then some.
Consider, for instance, the ever growing prominence of the college loan. There is just no doubting the fact that college loans are quite hugely important indeed. After all, getting a college degree or above can change your life quite completely, with people who have at least their bachelor’s degree open to so may more opportunities in the working world than those who do not have their bachelor’s degree. But college, especially your average private college, has become more expensive than ever before. Even scholarships are unlikely to cover the full cost of college, including everything from lodgings to meal plans to the actual cost of the courses. Therefore, college loans are essential for the vast majority of American college students in today’s world – and likely will be for the foreseeable future as well.
In addition to this, home loans such as the aforementioned 15-year fixed rate mortgage loan are also widely popular throughout the country. After all, without something like the 15-year fixed rate mortgage loan, buying a home would be quite impossible for a wide array of people indeed. In the year of 2008 alone, nearly $1.5 trillion in mortgage loans were issued. And the amount of total available home equity in this country is also up, topping $11 trillion. Just a few years ago in the year of 2011, this number barely topped $6 trillion, showing just how truly much it has grown in the years that have passed by since. The 15-year fixed rate mortgage has played a key role in this – and the 15-year fixed rate mortgage and other types of mortgage loans aside from the 15-year fixed rate mortgage are likely to remain popular in the years that are ahead of us as well.
Of course, the 15-year fixed rate mortgage and home loans in general are by far not the only types of popular loans out there. In addition to such types of loans as these, car loans are also quite popular in the United States. Again, cars (especially brand new cars, which more and more people want to buy) are becoming pricier as time passes on, now costing, on average, more than $30,000. Therefore, it should come as no real surprise that more than 100 million people now have a car loan in just this country alone, a number that has risen from the 80 million people that had car loans back in the not so far in the past year of 2012.
And personal loans and small business loans are quite commonplace indeed. Most people need no reminding that small businesses are quite largely important throughout the country, making up more than 99% of all businesses found here in the United States. But small businesses, as critical and vital to our communities as they might be, as well loved by many as they typically are, are more susceptible to struggling with issues surrounding cash flow. And cash flow is a main reason why many a business ultimately closes, as such problems cause the closing in more than three quarters of the businesses that ultimately end up failing.
Ultimately, it is important to consider the terms of the loan you wish to take out before you actually do take it out. If you do not do this, it can all too easily end in disaster. Unfortunately, taking on a loan with too high of an interest rate or for too much money is something that far too many people do.
