Why Not Be the Bank?
Have you ever wanted to be a bank and borrow money at a low rate of interest and lend the same money at a higher rate of interest, earning a "spread" on the money while having no net capital outlay?
One possibility (depending on your credit score) is to use one of the social lending sites such as Prosper.com. The way it works is you become a member of the site and first borrow money (up to $35,000 on Prosper). Once the loan is funded and you receive the cash, you then sign up to become an investor on the site and invest in a group of loans (usually $50 to $100 per loan) - Prosper has an automated bid platform that does all the work for you. Sometimes, due to a shortage of lenders, the site offers cash incentives to investors, which is nice and adds to your returns. The investor interest rates are quoted net of estimated losses, so as long as the net interest rate (after charge-offs) exceeds your cost of borrowing, you are making money on the deal. Recognize that a higher rate of interest (lower credit quality) comes with a higher risk of default, but that can be reduced by spreading the investment over many loans and over many different credit quality groups.
Since you are basically investing in consumer loans, a strong economy with plenty of jobs is a great environment for this asset class. There's a reason why you get so many credit card offers in the mail each week. Banks make a ton of money in this business, especially on late fees!
Here are a few other personal loan sources that I like:
ICashLoans - online lender
GotLoans - online lender
ThriveFinance - online lender
Kabbage - online lender for small businesses
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Disclaimer: I use affiliate links where I get paid a small amount if you buy the service or product. This helps support my blog.