In many cases, a personal loan can improve your credit history, enhance your mix of credit, and lower your credit utilization ratio. However, shopping for a personal loan can temporarily lower your FICO scores. It’s important to know what makes a good credit score and how a personal loan can help you achieve it.

When you refinance or buy a home, prepare for an expensive process. In addition to coming up with the down payment, you also have to pay closing costs that can add up to thousands. It can be challenging to scrounge up money for the latter, especially if you’re on a tight budget or this is your first home purchase. One option to cover your closing costs is a personal loan.

Student loan debt can affect your credit and be challenging to pay off, especially if it takes a while to find the right job after graduation. Making student loan payments late could negatively affect your credit score. But punctual student loan repayment can boost your credit score. Learn how to manage your credit score in this article.

Medical loans include any financing used to pay for medical bills. You can take them out for emergencies, to pay for elective or cosmetic surgeries or to refinance higher-interest medical loans.

Many older homeowners run into situations where they need extra funds to pay for a major expense. Fortunately, there are a variety of financing options that can help, if they qualify. These include a reverse mortgage or home equity conversion mortgage (HECM), home equity line of credit (HELOC), or a personal loan. The former two capitalize on the fact that homeowners have earned equity in their home.

Payday loans are very short-term loans designed to provide fast cash for emergency needs. They might get you out of a jam and save you money. But payday loans can also be an expensive trap. Learn how to find the best payday loans here, but you’ll also find advice on how to avoid payday loan traps and discover alternatives to payday loans.

Personal finance experts say that we are all vulnerable to identity theft. But there are easy ways to defend yourself.

If you’re serious about protecting yourself from identity theft, here’s what you need to know when choosing between Credit Karma and Credit Sesame for free credit-monitoring services.

The average cost to renovate a kitchen depends on several factors:

• Your location and labor costs
• The footprint of your kitchen
• The quality of materials and construction

This article breaks down the kitchen remodel cost for minor, mid-grade and major renovations. You’ll learn how to use a kitchen remodel cost estimator and how to get the most bang for your kitchen remodeling buck.

There are several reasons to look into dental loans before you need one. For one thing, it makes sense to see what financing options are best for you now, before you need a dental loan. And getting prequalified or preapproved can be especially helpful when you aren’t rushed or in pain.

Why do people take out expensive payday loans? Usually because they need emergency cash and are too scared or too embarrassed to try other options – or they don’t believe other sources will be fast enough or won’t approve them for a loan. And once they are in the trap, payday balances can be very hard to pay off.