Most of us who are very good at managing our own personal and business finances are very poor at collecting the monies that are owed to us. We really hate to find ourselves in the position of being a debt collector. Because we take our own financial obligations seriously, we tend to think that others do the same. They don't...at least not all of them.
Everybody has at one time or another loaned friends 20 bucks and never seen a penny of it repaid yet, and most likely never will. We all know that. We knew when we made the loan that it was really a gift. Those kinds of things you simple chalk up to experience and move on.
Other loans of substantial amounts that are made to family and friends should, however, have legal documents attached to them. Asking for collateral isn't unheard of, and neither is charging interest.
Advice given by very wise people of the past tells us to simply not lend money to family or friends, and it really is excellent advice. You aren't a bank or a lending institution. You are simply very good at managing your own finances.
If lending institutions won't lend your friends and relatives money, it is for a very good reason. The institutions have information that tells them that they aren't very likely to get their money back. You won't have the information about how they have handled debt in the past or how deeply in debt they are at the present. All you are going to know is what they choose to tell you.
The best answer when friends and relatives ask you to loan them a substantial amount of money is, "NO." But if you do decide to make the loan anyway, at least make it legal and binding with contracts, collateral, and interest.
Milos Pesic is a professional Debt Management consultant who runs a highly popular and comprehensive Debt Consolidation web site. For more articles and resources on debt management, debt consolidation programs, free debt counseling and much more visit his site at:
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