I have been stalling. I have said I would try all the P2P lending platforms available to me and up until reading the esteemed bamalucky (I bought a Zopa CD today) I hadn’t pulled the trigger on my Zopa investment. While I suspect our reasons for wanting a Zopa CD are different. Bama’s reasoning behind today being the day to buy your CD makes perfect sense — the Federal Reserve cut the rate 75 basis points. With a 75 basis point cut to the fed funds rate, the 5.1% offered by Zopa US is looking attractive. Inspired by bama, I made my purchase.
Now that I have tried it I can say it was easy enough to sign up and complete the transaction… I selected Provident Credit Union as my credit union, filled in my information, and I was done.
I am still not sure why a CD is p2p lending, but apparently I did help someone in San Mateo County California. (You are required to choose at least 1 person to “help”.) However, since it is FDIC insured I can say with certainty my $500 will be worth $525.50 in 1 year (Zopa CD has a 1 year term).
I can say this with confidence, if they lower the rate I will not accept the CD (see the picture above, but “Your CD may take up to 24 hours to create”).
Related Posts -
Confirmed My 5.1% Zopa CD Two days I purchased a Zopa CD right after the Federal Reserve cut the fed funds rate 75 basis points. I half expected Zopa to renege on the 5.1% that I signed up under, especially since Bank Rate not shows that a 5.1% 1 year CD is now the top yielding 1...... -
Lending Club Loan Volume Misquoted in National Newspaper I encourage all reporters to check facts. In the p2p lending space, both major US p2p lending companies provide data and this data can usually corroborate or debunk basic marketplace claims. I was reading a recent Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article on p2p lending: The credit crunch: How did it happen and where...... -
Zopa UK Review The following is a guest post from plonkee money. She writes about personal finance from a British point of view. The biggest peer to peer lending site in the UK is Zopa. In fact, I think it might be the only one. Here's how it works for Limeys. Paying Money...... - Prosper Lending Review -- 11 perspectives on p2p lending Prosper Lending review has an excellent new article. It combines 11 responses (including both Lending Club, Prosper, and yours truly) to a reader's question. It is well done on all front's. Here is the question asked: Reader's Question: I am in my mid-30's. I am not rich, but I am......
- LendingClub Raising Rates 50 Basis Point Apparently LendingClub has too many listings for their available lender dollars. This is not surprising, with any emerging market there will be imbalances. They are taking positive steps to address the problem in both the short term and long term. The source of this imbalance seems to be an influx......
Related Websites - Zopa US is Dead I hope you really like to hear about peer-to-peer lending news. Earlier today, I wrote about how Lending Club opened for business again and just before Prosper died (not in the traditional sense, just closed it's doors for a potentially "several months" while it passes a few steps with the......
- Why Invest in a Variable-Rate CD? A variable interest rate CD is different from the fixed rate CD in that it is tied into the movement of current interest rates - whether up or down - while the fixed CD interest rate remains the same throughout the duration of the term. So with a fixed rate......
- My Life as a Volunteer Tax Preparer - Tax Day Edition Yesterday was my final 2009 appearance as an AARP Tax Aide volunteer tax preparer. I had five appointments with one no show. The no show was actually a blessing in disguise because my first appointment was delayed due to tax software issues. After I solved those problems I worked four......
-
Accountants predict that the UK financial downturn has ended. How many hints do we need before the penny drops and the UK public can finally reach the conclusion that the recession is finally over? The latest one comes from the Institute of Chartered Accountants who in a report released last week announced that confidence among business professionals has...... -
Fed Cuts Rate to 3.0% Yesterday the Fed approved of a .5% cut. It's now down to 3.0%. Why is this important to me and you? This is good news or bad news depending on what your situation is right now. Personally my saving account's interest will be going down. That in turn......
- New Year Holiday, Seasonal Collectibles
- Current Year, Next Year Calendars Paper Collectibles
- Union 76 Gas Oil Companies Gas Oil Advertising Collectibles
- Orange County Choppers American Motorcycles Transportation Collectibles
- Credit, Charge Cards Trading Cards Collectibles
Categories:
11 comments ↓
too bad after inflation that $500 will be worth ~$489 in REAL dollars
@sal
good point… I hope it is not the case… But my reasons for buying the CD are slightly different than “normal”… As the p2p lending blogger with the longest tenure in the blogosphere I needed to try the CD to maintain street cred. Now was better than tomorrow in that sense.
As you said, “I am still not sure why a CD is p2p lending.” With that being the case, there’s no problem potential hard to your “street cred” if you ignored it.
It sure does sound tempting recently, but it’s a little difficult for me to get excited about a 5.1% CD. (the drop in the market seems a little tempting actually (and obviously more exiting (i.e. dangerous)))
Let us know how your zopa “help” impacts your return there…
@LC
I agree the Stock market is going to get very tempting soon… I think there is a little more downside, but soon enough my money will be going to stocks. However, this is not a blog about stocks.
The help is figured into the 5.1%. If I chose to help others or help my person more my return would have been reduced.
I agree that Zopa is not peer lending anything like Lending Club or Prosper. However, if your purchase of a 12 month CD at 5.1% goes through, you got a fantastic deal today.
I do not plan on trying it Zopa. Same with Kiva (they weren’t even paying interest until recently), but I might try Kiva for fun.
I have to admit that Zopa now has an attractive market:
http://bankrate.com/brm/rate/high_ratehome.asp?web=brm&prodtype=invest&product=15&sort=2
[...] Rate Ladder P2P Lending Blog, Strategy, Rate Analysis and Personal Finance « Fed Cuts Rate 75 Basis Points — I bought a Zopa US CD at 5.1% [...]
[...] national cd rate at 5.1% after the federal reserve cut the fed funds rate by 75 basis points. RateLadder locked in the 5.1% rate with a 1 year $500 [...]
[...] the regualr reads this may be a bit of a rehash (Fed Cuts Rate 75 Basis Points — I bought a Zopa US CD at 5.1%), but the fed cut rates again today… If you have been considering buying a CD now is the time [...]
[...] funds rate 75 basis points, but you can still get a great CD rate from zopa US. The blogger got 5.1%http://www.rateladder.com/2008/01/22/fed-cuts-rate-75-basis-points-i-bought-a-zopa-us-cd-at-51/Book results for zopaDear Lama Zopa: Radical Solutions for … [...]
Leave a Comment