Comments (scroll down to add your own):

1. Good going!
   The trick for me has been to reinvest as soon as I have enough in my cash balance. That keeps the risk down and the return more stable. You seem to have enough in payments to pick one extra loan per month.

   Comment by Lara — Jun 22nd 2009 @ 10:05 am

2. Hey!

   what is the repayment terms on your loans? is it 3 years or 5?

   i’m curious because if the $33.23 a payment is correct, for the 36 month payment period, you will get $1,196.28 with comes to 196.28 in interest = 20% Interest for 3 Years.

   20% / 3 years = 6.5% annual interest rate; not the weighted average of 12.45% as Lending club suggested.

   Thoughts?

   Comment by phung — Jun 22nd 2009 @ 11:34 am

3. It’s a three year repayment schedule. Here is how they calculate annualized returns:

   https://www.lendingclub.com/info/lendersPerformanceHelp.action

   I haven’t run the numbers myself, but perhaps I should.

   Comment by Nickel — Jun 22nd 2009 @ 12:00 pm

4. phung: After thinking about your comment some more, it seems that you’ve neglected to account for that fact that I’m getting a bit of principal back every month. That total monthly payment includes principal plus interest. Because the loan is paid back gradually over time, the principal dwindles (unless you reinvest). Thus, it’s not like I’ll have $1k invested for 36 months. Note that my outstanding principal is already down to $997.75 and I’ve only recv’d payments on the first four loans.

   Comment by Nickel — Jun 22nd 2009 @ 12:04 pm

5. Awesome-simply awesome.
   I’ll be watching this post.
   I have a question though. If you need the cash flow what do you do? How do you liquidate?

   Comment by Ray — Jun 22nd 2009 @ 7:50 pm

6. Ray: You can sell notes on the secondary market using the LC Note Trading platform. Pricing is based on supply and demand, however, so you’re not necessarily guaranteed to get your money back out in short order.

   Comment by Nickel — Jun 22nd 2009 @ 8:02 pm

7. I’ve been very happy with lendingclub. I only have a couple hundred invested, but am getting 15.47% since I started February. Glad to hear you’re also enjoying it as another investing tool. I’ll be adding more funds as they become available.

   Comment by Adam — Jun 22nd 2009 @ 11:04 pm

8. keep the updates coming! thanks!

   Comment by Eric — Jun 24th 2009 @ 1:32 am

9. that makes sense, nickel.

   But I still think the 12.45% return is a bit misleading, you will need to reinvest the principal constantly to get the 12.45% return.

   There’s a required level of involvement to get to the 12.45% return on the short term.

   I am still under the opinion that long term diversified stock investment is probably better.

   Comment by phung — Jun 24th 2009 @ 11:12 am

10. No, the dollar amount of your returns will fall because they’re being calculated on less principal, but the percentages still hold.

    Comment by Nickel — Jun 24th 2009 @ 11:21 am

11. Nice, I’ll definitely look into this. I’ve heard bad things about Prosper but Lending Club seems to have less risk. I’m considering putting $1,000 into various loans there.

    Comment by retireby35 — Jun 24th 2009 @ 1:56 pm

12. Keep the updates coming. I’m planning to invest, but can only buy notes on the trading platform at this time as New Jersey residents can’t invest in the loans initially.

    Comment by carole — Jun 24th 2009 @ 10:57 pm

13. They don;t have it for texas yet.

    Comment by unimax — Jul 22nd 2009 @ 1:12 pm

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