So, why I stopped investing in P2P?
Not counting with the bad investments that I’ve made and openly talked about in my blog, here are the main reasons that made me abandon Crowdlending or P2P investments.
Taxable Events
Investing in P2P is similar to receiving dividends from a stock. No matter if you withdraw the money from the platform or not, you must declare those profits to your local financial institution.
Since I don’t have nor plan to hire an accountant for now, I really want to avoid the hassle and tedious work of registering all my small profits from the various different platforms I invested in.
I prefer to invest in Accumulating ETFs in which the dividends are automatically reinvested, creating a compound effect.
Another alternative investment are cryptocurrencies. I only plan to sell them after a very long time, thus only having to pay taxes once.
A Lot of Platforms Are Still Not Regulated
Even though some platforms are starting to be licensed and regulated such as Mintos, the P2P environment still needs a lot of rules and work to be done.
Many platforms have pretended to be legit and have instead tricked their customers. We as investors should not have to worry so much about frauds but more about the quality of a business.
That’s what audits, regulation and licenses are made for.
The Borrowers Probably Didn’t Get a Loan From The Bank
Have you wondered why these borrowers are asking for a loan in these platforms?
In case you haven’t noticed it yet, the interest rates are higher than in most banks, so it probably means their financial health isn’t the greatest.
This chain of events may lead to you, the lender not getting paid in time. If only a couple of borrowers don’t pay, the platform may be able to cover it, but if many don’t pay, that’s a whole different story.
Conclusion
I want to be a boring investor, not having to worry about declaring my taxes yearly (in a legal way), the legitimacy of a platform or if the borrowers will pay me back.
That’s why I stopped investing in P2P.
If you have other alternative forms of investment, please share with me in the comments below. I’d hear about them gladly!
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