What are credit scores and how important are they to your financial future?
A credit score is a three-digit number based on the information in your credit report. This numerical score is intended to predict the likelihood that you will repay borrowed money.
Your credit score has a greater impact on your ability to borrow money and your financial life than any other single financial number tracked by lenders or governments.
credit score is a summary of your credit history, indicating how reliable and responsible you are at repaying debt. The score is calculated based on different factors within your credit reports, and ranges from 300 to 850.
it is based on credit bureau data of your payment history. A high score indicates that you are less likely to default on debt and more likely to pay back your loans.
Your credit score is one of the first things lenders will look at when determining whether you get approved for a loan, credit card, or mortgage. A high credit score can mean good things for your finances down the road – and a low credit score can spell trouble and so that is why it is good to have a commendable credit score .
What is a good credit score?
A good credit score is typically considered to be 700 or higher. However, there are many different types of scores that range in the 300s to 850s, so it’s important for consumers to understand what their scores mean before comparing them with others’ scores.
How do I know if I have a bad credit score? Having “bad” or “poor” credit doesn’t necessarily mean that someone has poor money management skills or doesn’t make payments on time. Your credit rating could be affected by any number of factors including medical bills, late rent payments or an unexpected car repair bill if you’re already carrying too much debt on your current cards because they’re maxed out at 100%.
HOW TO BOOST MY CREDIT SCORE
To boost your credit score, you need to focus on the following:
Payment history: This accounts for 35% of your score. It means that if you pay all of your bills on time, you will have a higher score.
Amounts owed: This accounts for 30% of your score. It means that if you owe less money, you will have a higher score.
Length of credit history: This accounts for 15% of your score. It means that if you have had credit longer, you will have a higher score.
New credit: This accounts for 10% of your score. It means that if you open new lines of credit and don’t close them immediately, it can hurt your score (but it won’t hurt it too much).
If you want to raise your credit score, focus on paying down debt and keeping balances low.
Pay off debt. The key to building a good credit score is to show that you can handle and pay off debt. Paying off a credit card balance in full each month will help you build up a solid track record of on-time payments.
The average American household owes about $7,000 in credit card debt and more than $16,000 in student loan debt, according to NerdWallet’s 2019 American Household Credit Card Debt Study.
If you have any kind of debt at all, consider making an extra payment every few months or so toward it until it’s gone.
You’ll also want to make sure that any money owed on your home or car is fully paid off before applying for new loans or lines of credit.
Keep your balances low — ideally less than 30% of your available credit limit. It’s important not only that you make all your payments on time but also that you keep them below 30% of your total available credit limit.
This gives you room to borrow more if needed without affecting your score negatively right away. In fact, carrying too much debt (anything over 35% of total available credit) can actually hurt your score because it suggests
As long as you pay down your balances but keep your credit cards open and active, you can help build or fix your credit score over time.
Conversely, if you only make the minimum payments on your cards, but never pay off the balance, that is not a good move for your credit score.
Also, check with each creditor once a year to ensure that there are no errors in the information about your accounts — if any financial changes are reflected on your credit report that aren’t accurate, such as an address change or new account not being reported, contact the creditor to have them correct it.
And if any of these steps seem to hard and cant help you? You could send us an email or chat with our online agents here at hackerscrib and be sure to get help.