Thursday, April 30, 2015

P2P Accounts (Update) - April 2015

On April 1st, our Lending Club account balance was at $9,226.09 (an increase of $31.22 from last month). We received $627.37 in payments from our active notes; of which, we received $55.18 in interest (an increase of $3.94).  The principal balance of our active notes was $7,143.36 (a decrease of $176.04  from last month), with $125.00 of loans in review or funding and a remaining cash balance of $1,932.73 (an increase of $82.26).  We are currently generating 5.11% on our seasoned notes. One loan in the amount of $17.98 was charged off this month.   

We are definitely still struggling to find enough quality notes to keep up with our the cash flow that we are receiving from the outstanding principal.  This past month was certainly a bit better than the two months prior.  Nevertheless, we still saw an approx. $80 increase to our cash balance.  I suppose that is better than the approx. $580 increase we saw during the month of February and the approx. $360 we saw during January.  Crossing my fingers that we continue our success from last month and hopefully even see a decline to our cash balance next month!    

Again, we continue to be thankful that we are not losing any money, but with the automatic investments strategy not working out very well, more and more of our money is standing idle and thus losing value when inflation the opportunity costs are factored in.  I think it's time to look elsewhere for investment opportunities.  
 
Any ideas on where we could invest this growing cash pile?
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On April 1st, our Prosper account balance was at $9,189.94 (an increase of $2.10 from last month).  We received $539.94 in payments from our active notes; of which, we received, $60.30 in interest (an increase of $5.86). The principal balance of our active notes was $8,315.19 (a increase of $308.76 from last month). $846.59. Nevertheless, we are still currently sitting on a cash balance of $874.75 (an decrease of $306.66), of which a total of $320.00 is  pending investments.  We are currently generating 6.72% on our seasoned notes, and 6.40% on all notes invested to date (includes profits from paid off notes).

This past month we bump up our automatic purchases to buy in $50 increments, instead of $40.  This certainly help us spend a little more idle cash in our Prosper account.  I am happy to report that we actually saw an approx. $300 decrease to our cash balance this past month! Certainly much better than the $180 increase we saw last month.  Love it when I am able to put my money to work for me! :)

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Even though we are not having great luck finding notes that meet our criteria (described below), at least the accounts are continuing to show some growth (albeit very small).

Below are the updated numbers that include both Lending Club and Prosper accounts: 
 
Total Value of Both P2P accounts: $18,416.03
($33.32 increase from last month)
 
Total Interest Earned in February: $115.48
($9.80 increase from last month)
 
Estimate Average Interest Earned: 5.92%

 

Click below to view our peer-to-peer lending accounts history

PEER-TO-PEER LENDING ACCOUNTS

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NOTES CRITERIA:

Our family has been investing in peer-to-peer lending notes for approximately 3 years now. And because of past defaults, we have now refined our search criteria. As a result, we now take a slightly more conservative approach with the notes we invest in. Currently, we only invest in notes that fit the following initial criteria:
  • Amount requested is under $6,000;
  • Credit score of 700 or more; and
  • Monthly payment will be less than $250.
From those we evaluate (Employment Status):
  • The borrower's income (prefer > $50,000 but depends on amount requested);
  • Length of employment (must be > 2 years); and
  • Their occupation (certain occupations, known to be more secured, are more desirable).
We then look at (Ability To Pay):
  • Their credit history;
  • Revolving balance; and
  • Debt to income level, etc.
We do not invest in any notes where borrow is currently delinquent, of if they have had  a public record within the last 12 months. We also do not invest in notes where the description provided is "Other." We feel that there is too much risk involve when the borrower is not willing to reveal why he/she needs the money.

2 comments:

  1. I am still not very familiar with P2P lending, my goal for now is to focus on dividend growth stocks, once i average 1,000 per month, I would diversify to other form of passive income and P2P might come along. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Yes, P2P is still not that popular yet but we see that as a positive. As it grows in popularity, more and better notes will hopefully become available to investors. We are just hoping that institutional investors don't ruin it for us little guys. :)

      Sounds like you a have nice plan in place. $1K a month in dividends is certainly doable and would be plenty to reinvest or otherwise diversify into other forms of passive income. Best Wishes and continued success! AFFJ

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