After poking around a bit online, I opted to go with a silver coin. So, I looked up a respectable local coin shop (using the ever-useful urban tool Yelp!), researched the fair value of a 1 oz. silver coin (which turns out to be just a bit more than the current price of silver for common coins), and headed over to the shop, a quaint little place in Chicago’s financial district. Though I had originally entered intending to buy a Silver Eagle coin, I ended up leaving with a Chinese Silver Panda — which seemed appropriate as I had just returned from a year in China.

My brother loved the gift, and it gave me a chance to explain a few financial principles to him — such as how the coin was worth at least its melt value, the value of the metal in it, and not it’s face value, the denomination stamped on it. Best of all, instead of just being a “disposable gift” that will collect dust or get thrown away, it is something that will last forever — or be able to be cashed in later at the drop of a hat.

Now, I’m scheming up new gifts to give to loved ones to help set them on the right financial course. And I must say, the feeling of being able to make someone happy with a gift — while also helping them — is a good one.

The first webinar that Lending Club put out was called “Beat the Average,” and it was led by Scott Langmack, a lending club investor who has managed to consistently beat Lending Club’s average return of 9.66%. You can watch the webinar here after filling out a registration form (enter bogus information if you wish to protect your privacy).

As he explains in the presentation, Scott has literally made so many loans through Lending Club that he has been able to track the loans’ performances and improve his lending strategy in the process. In particular, he promotes an emphasis on diversification (spreading one’s investment across multiple loans) and favoring borrower job stability (investing in people who have been employed at the same job for a long time or work in stable sectors like government).

The most important point I took away from the whole webinar was the statement that unlike the stock market, it is reasonably possible for individual investors to beat the average return on Lending Club. While researching a stock investment requires countless hours just to match the knowledge held by the major investment houses, all Lending Club investors mostly need to know is how to judge the dependability of a borrower based on the page or two of information provided. As someone who, like most people, is still a bit intimidated by the complicated global nature of investing, I found this fact very encouraging.

Lending Club’s second webinar, “Credit and Collections,” details their strategy for collecting from borrowers who become late on their loan repayments. There isn’t really much investment information contained in the presentation, but for those who are interested in the nitty gritty of Lending Club’s operations, it’s worth a watch.

There are two additional webinars scheduled for the near future. You may register for them at the links below:

Unveiling the New Statistics Section

October 22, 2009, 4:00 – 4:45 (Pacific Time)

Higher Returns Through Diversification with Scott Langmack

October 29, 2009, 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. (Pacific Time)

Even if you can’t attend the presentations during their live broadcasts, if you register, you will be sent a link to the recording after they run.

I currently have only a paltry $50 invested in Lending Club as I am putting the rest of my savings toward a Roth IRA. Lending Club offers IRAs as well, but their high annual fee means they make sense only for those with larger portfolios. Outside of an IRA, Lending Club income is subject to taxes.

If you are interested investing or borrowing with Lending Club, you can apply here.