By Is Getting A Loan Bad Thing?
I ask this question a lot of times from people around and a handful of them are quick to respond with a YES like their lives depended on it. For most people around here, getting a loan is a bad thing based on hearsays from few people around them.
Is getting a loan bad? While this question will continue to bring forth different points of argument, I will like to point out that securing a loan facility for a particular purpose is not a bad idea. It could be money for school fees, to repair a few things at home, fix a car, boost an existing business among others.
Loans appear like a burden to people who do not set their priorities right or people that do not have a carefully laid out plan on how to sustain themselves throughout the repayment period. Before the time I started marketing loan products till now, I have always seen loans as an alternate source to get funds that an individual could have saved up for a period before using it. What makes it different is that, while a loan is provided within few hours or days, depending on the operations of the Finance house, it can take a while for an individual to diligently save up money to meet a need. So, the way a loan should be ordinarily is your own money that you decide to spend in advance.
To answer the question with sincerity, getting a loan isn’t a bad choice, provided that the borrower has a good repayment plan. Presently, unsecured loan lenders spend a lot in recovery actions as they try to recover loans that have gone bad in their books, in fact, it gets to a stage where they have to write off some loans. If you meet recovery officers of some loan companies, you will understand that in every 10 Nigerians, about 6 are will get a loan and never bother about repaying same, while out of the remaining 4, only three will be very ready to meet up with repayments while the remaining one will be affected with job loss or unforeseen circumstances.
Nigerians really need to change their perspective about loans, it’s not a bad option like many currently sees it. If you tell me you have seen several businesses drown because the owner got a loan, I will point out to several other businesses that only got loans once or twice and have reached the peak in their line of business. All it takes is a well laid out plan and getting exactly what your capacity can repay. The bane of our problem with loans right now is the fact that we see it as “free money”. The moment we can start seeing loans as money that must be repaid, with our own sweat, then we won’t have any issue with the word, loan.
Drop your reactions in the comment section…this will be highly appreciated.
