When you’re in a cash crunch and need money to get you through, you may look to a personal loan to help tide you over while you wait for your finances to stabilize.

Personal loans are a means of getting a cash injection to help tide you over, no matter what income bracket you may be in. There are a variety of reasons you may take out a personal loan, such as those offered from KingofKash, such as finishing a home improvement project, making a major purchase, such as an RV or new appliances, covering some educational expenses, or paying off a bill that is overdue and accruing interest. While a home equity loan often has better interest rates, it can often be faster to take out a personal loan.

 What is a personal loan?

A personal loan is considered unsecured debt, since you don’t need to put down any collateral against the loan, like your home or your car, such as you would have to do with a mortgage or car loan. Lenders will use your credit score to gauge whether or not they should offer you a loan and what interest rate they will offer you when they do. Depending on what they find in your credit history, the interest rates on personal loans may end up being higher than a secured loan, so it’s important to know what your credit score is and whether or not you can pay off the personal loan quickly.

Unlike credit cards, which are revolving loans, personal loans are a type of installment loan. They have a fixed repayment term and carry a fixed interest rate and usually need to be paid back within two to five years. When you get a personal loan, you’ll receive the lump sum up front and be expected to pay the rest back (with interest) in regular monthly installments.

Not all personal loans are created equal though. Before you sign on the dotted line, know exactly what you’re looking for in a personal loan and what kind of loan you’re ultimately choosing.

Here are four types of personal loans you may not have known about:

Cash advances

Cash advances are usually the most expensive options for borrowing money. They are meant to function as very short-term loans that are to be paid back in full due to their high interest rates and fees. They are secured against your next paycheck and should be used in cases of emergencies only.

Secured Loan

A secured loan uses collateral or an asset as a guarantee of repayment of the loan. If you fail to repay this loan on time or make payments, the lender will then repossess your asset to help them pay off the rest of the loan. Home equity or car loans are standard secured loans.

 Unsecured loans

Unsecured loans do not require collateral and are one of the most common types of personal loans. However, you must have a solid credit history to promise this type of loan. They also come with a high interest level due to the amount of risk the lender takes on. A credit card is one such type of unsecured loan.

Variable Rate Loan

A riskier loan, a variable rate loan will see the interest rates adjust at different intervals through the life of the loan based on the market. This means that your rate could go from very reasonable to quite high. The amount of interest a lender can place on a loan is capped though, and they are often easier to get than a fixed rate loan.