Personal loans typically run from about $1,000 to $100,000. That is a range. It is also a confession.
The low end buys a used laptop and a lesson. The high end buys a kitchen you will cry in. Between them sits the great American middle: $15,000 to consolidate credit card debt you built one DoorDash order at a time.
Lenders set their own limits. Some start at $1,000. Some refuse to talk to you below $5,000. Some cap out at $50,000 and call it a day. SoFi, LightStream, and Prosper all publish ceilings. None publish a number for how many times you will refresh the approval page.
Your income decides it. Your credit score decides it harder. Your debt-to-income ratio sits in the corner, quietly deciding everything else.
Here is the part retail traders love. They see "up to $100,000" and assume it is a personal invitation. It is not. It is a marketing sentence. The person who gets $100,000 owns a house, a pension, and a spreadsheet. You own a leveraged call option on a biotech company you cannot pronounce.
Consider the math of the other end. Borrow $1,000 at a mid-teens APR over a year. You will pay back a bit over $1,000. That is not a loan. That is a very expensive way to feel like a banker for twelve months.
Origination fees also exist. Some lenders skim a few percent off the top before you see a dime. Borrow $10,000, receive less. You have been taxed on your own desperation.
The smart move is checking rates with a soft credit pull. It costs nothing and hurts nothing. You will ignore this and apply to six lenders in one afternoon.
Borrow what you need. Not what they offer. The bank is not your friend, and neither is that margin account, but at least the bank sends a statement.
Photo by Precondo CA on Unsplash
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