A personal loan is a big commitment for your financial future, one that you’ll be living with for years. If you choose the wrong loan package, then the effects will be felt for the full length of the loan term, so it’s obvious that you need to take care when deciding which loan to apply for, and from which lender.
It’s also obvious that getting the cheapest loan possible should be a priority, but how can you properly compare the costs of loans? The first factor that most people look at when determining how expensive a loan or other form of credit is is the APR, or Annual Percentage Rate. This is the interest rate that will be charged on a loan, and the higher the figure, the more expensive the loan.
Although the APR figure is intended to give an accurate picture of the overall costs involved, there are several different ways of calculating it, and so when you compare the APRs of two loans side by side, you might not actually be comparing like with like. Because of this, you should also take a look at the other factors involved in how cheap or expensive your loan will be.
One major thing to look out for is whether the lender or broker will...