“…banks weren’t going to get us out of this (recession) mess.”

Looking for hefty yields? Lending Club offers them by turning you into a banker to the little guy.

Lending Club was founded by Renaud Laplanche, a French native who worked as a New York securities lawyer before launching database search firm MatchPoint. Laplanche whipped out his plastic (and paid 18% annual interest) to cover the cost of computers and furniture early on. When he later related this war story to friends, some said they would have happily lent him money on less onerous terms.

The service launched in May 2007 as one of Facebook’s first applications, which attracted buzz and young borrowers with scanty credit histories to mine. Laplanche shifted gears and primed the pump with $12 million from angel investors and Silicon Valley Bank.

These days Lending Club is one of a handful of peer-to-peer lenders filling a gap created by tightfisted bankers.

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I recently found an interesting article about General Motors (GM) sometimes called Government Motors. The article described what I already think and agree on in regards to this company and the biggest thievery in recent history. All what bothers me about this real-socialism had happened with this company. Our government did a great job by providing a lesson to all who seek easy life, do not want to take care of themselves, are lazy, always rely on someone else, are jealous to those who strive and try every day. Yes folks, this is how socialism works!

Recently GM went back to markets issueing their IPO. The money generated from the IPO went straight to the government. The government has a vested interest in the company and wants their money back. So of course we are going to see an inflated IPO price that does not represent the valuation of the company.

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There is a reason that most mortgages are paid monthly and not quarterly. Banks are looking for reassurance the payments will continue to come in. In much the same way, many investors find comfort in owning stocks that pay monthly dividends. There are several advantages to receiving dividends each month over the traditional quarterly, semi-annual or annual dividends. Here are a few, along with some monthly dividend payers:

Monthly Bond Funds

– iShares Barclays 1-3 Year Credit Bond (CSJ) | Yield: 3.73%
– Vanguard Short-Term Bond ETF (BSV) | Yield: 2.74%
– Vanguard Intermediate-Term Bond ETF (BIV) | Yield: 4.32%
– Vanguard Long-Term Bond ETF (BLV) | Yield: 5.16%

Canadian Trusts

– Baytex Energy Trust (BTE) | Yield: 6.2%
– Enerplus Resources Fund (ERF) | Yield: 9.4%
– Pengrowth Energy Trust (PGH) | Yield: 8.5%
– Penn West Energy Trust (PWE) | Yield: 8.8%
– Provident Energy Trust (PVX) | Yield: 11.6%

Special Purpose Funds

– Enerplus Resources Fund (ERF) | Yield: 9.4%
– Eaton Vance Tax-Adv. Global Div. Oppor. Fund (ETO) | Yield: 7.7%
– The Gabelli Global Utility & Income Trust (GLU) | Yield: 6.3%
– Pimco Global Stocksplus Income Fund (PGP) | Yield: 10.5%
– LMP Real Estate Income Fund Inc. (RIT) | Yield: 8.2%

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Recently I was thinking what I want to do with my Lending Club account. Actually Rob Garcia asked me that question the other day when we had a short discussion about my plans and goals when investing with Lending Club. I answered that I wanted to invest and reinvest for upcoming next three years and then I’ll see.

I continued thinking about his question. If we are suppose to know our plans and goals prior to investing, well I definitely had no idea what I wanted to reach. Do you know the TV commercial ING Gazillion?

Well, I felt like the guy in this commercial. “So I blindly throw money in it and hope something good happens…”

It is time to think what my plan should look like. I tried to remember why I started investing with Lending Club at first. I wanted additional income which I can invest and thus increase my investing and retirement savings. When I was searching for some money making opportunities I came across Lending Club and even though it wasn’t what I was looking for at the beginning I liked the idea and opportunities so much that I decided to give it a try.

Now I am glad I did it. Currently my return is 12.47%. Where else can you get it?

So I started to think about my plans and how to fit Lending Club into the entire picture. Since I still want additional income, my goal now will be to save the same way as I am doing so far – $100 every month, reinvest all proceedings (principal and interest) as long as my expected monthly income reaches $200 after tax. Once it happens, I will split income, reinvest $100 and withdraw the other half for either spending it on my own or reinvesting into my ROTH IRA account.

Here is my goal so far:

So far I accomplished 15% of this goal.

What should you do with your hard earned cash? There are many choices we face on a daily basis that can create confusion and can point us in in a different direction at any time. There are many things that we should and shouldn’t do with regards to our finances and how to manage money. Let’s go through some of the more important ways to start saving and put your money where it belongs.
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An article “How Yield on Cost Works” by David Van Knapp discussed the basic yet oft-misunderstood concept of yield on cost (YOC). In a nutshell, it explains why your personal yield from a dividend stock goes up as the company increases its dividends. The reason is because your personal yield is based—and always will be based—on the price you paid for the stock. That’s what the “C” in YOC stands for: Your cost. It is not affected by changes in the price of the stock after you bought it. If you make additional purchases, each new purchase has its own YOC.
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