Monday 24 June 2019

Do you have time to invest in Peer to Peer Lending?




I’ve have been asked recently by several followers how much time I actually spend managing my peer to peer investments and at first I didn’t really have an answer.  Having thought and reflected on this, it’s a valid question as you must place a value on your time.  Thinking through what I do, I’ve broken down my thoughts on how much time I dedicate to managing my Peer to Peer Lending accounts.  As I currently invest in four different platforms, I’ve split out my thoughts on each.

TruePillars – If you are a regular follower, you will know TruePillars was my first peer to peer investment platform.  As such I spent a lot of time on the site in the beginning learning about the platform and understanding how the process worked and buying up loans on the secondary market as well as new loans when available.  Now I spend much less time on the site.  I would check the account once a week or so to take note and track any loans that are overdue (5 minutes a week).  In addition to this when new loans are listed (which I’m notified by TruePillars via text) I’ll log on and place a bid on the new loan (5 minutes to log on have a quick read through the loan on offer and place a bid).  However I’ve just activated the auto bid function to reduce my time commitments now I’m comfortable with how the platform works and keen to test this functionality out.  In addition to the above at the end of the month spend about half an hour reviewing and updating my performance tracking.

MoneySpot – This platform takes no time on my part to manage.  The platform is based on pooled fund where you are paid a return on the funds you have invested.  Apart from the time to fill in the application form, it’s checking once a month to have a read of the monthly report and taking note of the returns I’ve received which would take less than 10 minutes.  In my case I’ve opted for auto reinvestment to allow my investment to grow at a compounded rate.

RateSetter – This platform also takes little time on my part to manage.  When I add funds in I log in a few times to split up the funds I’ve commit to loans to help me feel comfortable I’ve diversified across multiple loans.  Each time it might take a few minutes.  On top of this I’ll log in once a week and reinvest any repaid funds sitting in the account (5 minutes).  I’ve not used the auto invest on this platform as I believe I can get a slightly higher rate by manually entering noting there is a time commitment on my part.  On the flip side if you are time poor and prepared to accept the auto bid prices this could be used as a time saver.  Like the other platforms at the end of the month I’ll also spend about 10 minutes or so reviewing and updating my performance tracking.

OurMoneyMarket – This platform is still relatively new for me and is currently where I’m spending more time while I work out how to get the best out of the platform and get my funds invested across multiple loans.  This would typically look like logging in every day or two to check for new loans to invest in (5 mins a go).  Again at the end of the month to track my monthly performance.

Adding up the different times spent, overall it would equate to under 45 minutes a week and an extra half an hour at the end of the month while document my performance of the different platforms.  While this is my experience investing over multiple platforms, I realise not everyone is the same and may not have similar time available.  To be honest, you can be as active or passive as you like, as each platform I invest in, offers a form of auto investing to cater for the time poor.  I’m comfortable with the time I spend as I like to be more actively involved and want to understand what I am investing in.  As I become more familiar with the platforms, I’m more comfortable with using the auto invest functions where appropriate.  Interested to hear about other people’s lending experiences and times commitments they make.

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