It’s important to understand unsecured personal loans because these loans can be some of the most expensive loans around, and you’d do well to avoid them insofar as you are able.

An unsecured loan is simply a loan which is not backed up, or secured, by any valuable asset which can be sold to pay off the loan in the event of a default by the borrower. Lenders charge higher interest rates for unsecured loans because of the risk that they won’t be paid back. Even if you have a great credit rating, and enormous personal wealth, you’ll still pay a higher interest rate on unsecured loans than you would for the same amount of money borrowed on a secured personal loan.

Chief among unsecured personal loans is credit card debt, and, as you’d expect, credit cards have some of the highest interest rates around.

If you look to replace unsecured personal loans with secured personal loans – a home equity loan, for example – you may find that you not only can get much better interest rates, and lower monthly payments, but that you can also pay off your loans faster.

When you do have to use unsecured personal loans, try to pay them off as soon as possible. In the case of credit cards try to avoid carrying a balance. If you really need to borrow money, see if you are able to obtain a secured personal loan. You’ll wind up paying a lot less in interest, and save a lot of money as a result, over the term of the loan.