If you’re thinking about taking out a $50,000 personal loan, it’s worth taking the time to research loan options that could be available to you from different lenders — a $50,000 loan is a big financial responsibility. Finding the right lender, repayment term, and interest rate can make a big difference in your total repayment costs.
Quick navigation:
- Where to get a $50,000 loan
- What to consider when comparing loans
- Cost to repay a $50,000 personal loan
Where to get a $50,000 loan
A personal loan is typically an unsecured, closed-end installment loan with a predetermined number of payments. Sometimes you’ll even hear personal loans referred to as signature loans, because you don’t have to put up collateral, like your house or your car.
Since personal loans aren’t secured by collateral, the upper limit for many lenders is $35,000. However, some lenders offer personal loans of $50,000 or more.
Remember that the lender’s upper limit is not the only consideration. You’ll also have to demonstrate a solid credit history (along with good credit to excellent credit) and that you have enough income to repay the loan.
Online lenders
Online lenders can be a good source for large personal loans. They often have an easier application process than banks and credit unions and might offer lower rates (some might even get you your loan in one business day).
Credible is partnered with several online personal loan lenders that offer $50,000 personal loans: Upgrade, Upstart, and LightStream.
| Lender | Rates | Loan Amounts | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Fixed: 5.34% - 16.99% APR | $5,000 up to $100,000 | Get Rates |
Loan Terms • 2 - 7 years Loan uses • Credit card refinancing, debt consolidation, home improvement, and other purposes Eligibility • Borrower must reside in the U.S. |
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 | Fixed: 7.99% - 35.89% APR | $1,000 up to $50,000 | Get Rates |
Loan Terms • 3 - 5 years Loan uses • Debt consolidation, credit card refinancing, home improvement, and other purposes Eligibility • Borrower can't be a resident of CT, CO, IA, MA, MD, VT, or WV |
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 | Fixed: 8.89% - 35.99% APR | $1,000 up to $50,000 | Get Rates |
Loan amounts • 3 - 5 years Loan uses • Payoff credit cards, consolidate debt, take a course or bootcamp, relocate, make a large purchase, and other purposes Eligibility • Must be a U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident with a verifiable Social Security number • Must have a bank account at a U.S. financial institution with a routing transit number • Must have a full time job, full time job offer starting in six months, or another source of regular income |
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If you can meet your goals with personal loans for less than $50,000, consider other Credible partners.
The personal loan companies in the table below compete for your business through Credible. Instead of visiting multiple websites, you can compare prequalified personal loan rates from all of them by filling out just one form, without a hard credit check. We use a soft credit pull, so your credit score isn’t impacted. Once you choose a lender and fill out an application, the lender will conduct a hard credit pull that could have an impact on your credit.
| Lender | Rates | Loan Amounts | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Fixed: 9.95% - 35.99% APR | $2,000 up to $35,000 | Get Rates |
Loan terms • 2 - 5 years Loan uses • Debt consolidation, emergency expense, life event, home improvement, and other purposes Residency • Must be a resident in the U.S. with a valid Social Security number |
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 | Fixed: 5.99% - 29.99% APR | $2,000 up to $35,000 | Get Rates |
Loan terms • 3 - 5 years Loan uses • Credit card refinancing, debt consolidation, home improvement, and other purposes Residency • Must be a U.S. Citizen or a Permanent Resident Alien • Can't be a resident of IA, VT, or WV |
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 | Fixed: 5.99% - 29.99% APR | $10,000 up to $35,000 | Get Rates |
Loan terms • 2 - 5 years Loan uses • Debt consolidation, home improvement, wedding, travel, medical expenses, and other purposes Residency • Must be a resident in the U.S. with a valid Social Security number |
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 | Fixed: 6.95% - 35.89% APR | $1,000 up to $40,000 | Get Rates |
Loan terms • 3 - 5 years Loan uses • Debt consolidation, paying off credit cards, home improvement, pool loans, vacations, and other purposes Residency • Must be a U.S. Citizen or Resident Alien with a valid Social Security number and physical address, currently residing in the U.S. |
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| Fixed: 5.34% - 16.99% APR | $5,000 up to $100,000 | Get Rates |
Loan terms • 2 - 7 years Loan uses • Credit card refinancing, debt consolidation, home improvement, and other purposes Residency • Borrower must reside in the U.S. |
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 | Fixed: 5.99% - 28.99% APR | $3,500 up to $40,000 | Get Rates |
Loan terms • 3 - 6 years Loan uses • Credit card refinancing, debt consolidation, home improvement, and other purposes Residency • Must be a U.S. Citizen or Resident Alien with a valid Social Security number and physical address, currently residing in the U.S. • Borrower cannot reside in MD |
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 | Fixed: 5.99% - 24.99% APR | $5,000 up to $35,000 | Get Rates |
Loan terms • 2 - 5 years Loan uses • Debt consolidation and credit card consolidation only Residency • Borrower can't reside in DC, DE, IA, LA, MA, MD, MI, MN, MS, NC, NE, NV, OH, OK, VA, VT, WA, WI, or WV |
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 | Fixed: 6.95% - 35.99% APR | $2,000 up to $35,000 | Get Rates |
Loan terms • 3 - 5 years Loan uses • Debt consolidation, home improvement, vehicles, small business, new baby expenses, and other purposes Residency • Must be a U.S. resident with a bank account and Social Security number |
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| Fixed: 7.99% - 35.89% APR | $1,000 up to $50,000 | Get Rates |
Loan terms • 3 - 5 years Loan uses • Debt consolidation, credit card refinancing, home improvement, and other purposes Residency • Borrower can't be a resident of CT, CO, IA, MA, MD, VT, or WV |
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| Fixed: 8.89% - 35.99% APR | $1,000 up to $50,000 | Get Rates |
Loan terms • 3 - 5 years Loan uses • Payoff credit cards, consolidate debt, take a course or bootcamp, relocate, make a large purchase, and other purposes Residency • Must be a U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident with a verifiable Social Security number |
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Banks
Banks typically offer interest rate discounts on personal loans if you already have a savings or checking account with them, for example. In addition, many lenders offer autopay discounts if you agree to have your loan payments automatically deducted from your checking or savings account each month.
Some big banks like Chase, Bank of America, and Capital One don’t offer personal loans. But others like Citizens, Citi and Wells Fargo do. Citizens and Citi will loan up to $50,000, although Citi doesn’t take applications online for loans over $30,000 — you’ll have to call the bank or visit a branch office. The upper limit for unsecured personal loans at Wells Fargo is $100,000.
Credit unions
Although you do have to be a member to get a loan from a credit union, many have open membership requirements that allow almost anyone to join. Like banks, credit unions sometimes offer interest rate discounts if you already have an account with them or if you set up automatic payments.
Personal lending limits are often lower at credit unions than banks. Boeing Employees Credit Union won’t provide personal loans of more than $15,000, for example. At Teachers Federal Credit Union, the upper limit is $20,000.
But Alliant, a Chicago-based credit union that’s among the nation’s 10 largest, has loan offers of up to $50,000 with repayment terms ranging from one to five years. So do Navy Federal and First Technology Federal Credit Union.
What to consider when comparing loans
If you’ve shopped around and have multiple options for taking out a $50,000 personal loan, here’s a checklist of five main factors to consider.
1. Interest rates
The interest rate charged by the lender is typically the biggest cost of borrowing money. It’s how much you pay in interest charges each year when you take out a loan, expressed as a percentage. The shorter the loan term, the lower the interest rate offered by most lenders.
Also, decide if a fixed or variable rate loan is best for your situation. Not all personal loan lenders offer both, but some do.
2. Fees
Watch out for origination fees, which are taken out of your loan proceeds before you even see them. To help you understand the impact of any additional fees and expenses over the life of your loan, lenders are required to factor them into another calculation called the annual percentage rate, or APR.
Also, comb the fine print and ask your lender about any prepayment penalties, which are charged at the end of your loan if you decide to pay it off early. Prepayment penalties aren’t factored into your actual APR because you might not have to pay them.
3. Repayment term
How much a loan will cost to repay depends not only on the loan amount you borrow and at what interest rate, but on how long you take to repay your loan. The longer you take, the more interest charges you’ll rack up. The other important thing to keep in mind is that the shorter the repayment term, the lower the interest rate offered by most lenders.
4. Monthly payment
The monthly payment is an important indicator of whether a loan will fit your budget. If it seems that the monthly payment will eat up too much of your paycheck, you can look at loans with longer repayment terms. If you stretch your payments out over seven years instead of five, you’ll make 84 payments instead of 60, so each payment will be smaller. Just remember that the longer the repayment term, the higher the interest rate and total repayment costs.
5. Total repayment costs
The bottom line when shopping for a loan is what your total repayment costs will be. Before you sign a loan contract, review the federal Truth in Lending Act (TILA) disclosure provided by your lender. Pay special attention to these two numbers:
- The finance charge: This is the cost of your loan, including interest and fees, assuming you make all your payments on time.
- Total payments: This is the sum of all the payments you’ll make to pay off your loan, including the loan principal and finance charges.
Cost to repay a $50,000 personal loan
The table below shows the relationship between the loan repayment term, interest rate, monthly payment, and total interest charges. The interest rates in the table are hypothetical, for purposes of illustration only.
| Repayment term | Interest rate | Monthly payment | Total interest |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 years | 7% | $1,544 | $5,203 |
| 4 years | 8% | $1,221 | $7,817 |
| 5 years | 9% | $1,038 | $10,888 |
| 7 years | 10% | $830 | $16,595 |
Typically, the shorter the repayment term, the lower the interest rate and total interest charges, and the higher the monthly payment.
A good rule of thumb, if you’re seeking to minimize total repayment costs, is to select a loan with the biggest monthly payment and the shortest repayment term you can afford.
Using our personal loan calculator will give you an idea of what your monthly payment and total cost (including total interest) will be with a personal loan at the rates and terms available to you. When you compare personal loan rates through Credible, you’ll get a dashboard showing that information for loans that you’re prequalified for.