“Neither a borrower nor a lender be,” a sage quote from William Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
Not all of us are able to live our life according to the above quote. Family and friends run into difficult times and need to borrow money to get by, so they come to you. Should you loan them the money they ask for?
After all, you’re a nice person with money to spare, right? Based on how many people every week request revenge advice to either get paid their money back or just flat out to get even because the person that borrowed the money is no avoiding paying it back, I’d say no.
Not that saying no to every borrowers request will earn you any “friend points” though. If you are comfortable never seeing again the amount asked for, go ahead, make the loan. You’re a better person that I.
Whether it’s $5 or $500 or even tens of thousands of dollars, the trustworthiness of the person you are lending money to is all that matters.
Protect Yourself From Bad Debts
Understanding that you’ll never be fully protected from someone deciding not to pay you back, there are steps you need to take to do your best to try to get your money back:
- 1. Have them sign an IOU. Make certain the amount loaned and the date it needs to be paid back is on the note
- 2. Take collateral, some type of property that they will give you to hold onto until they pay you back
- 3. Have their contact and employment info and be certain that it’s up-to-date
Always follow-up loaning someone money by sending them an email or text message, within 24 hours, so they will acknowledge their debt to you and when they will pay it back. this way you have something written down if you didn’t get an IOU at the time of the loan.
Following these steps does not mean you won’t get screwed over, but at least you’ll have something to share if they don’t pay you back on time.
