Financially secure people tend to share a common trait. Most, if not all, know how to get ahold of their credit report, and what to do with it. Negative information in your history can have far reaching effects. It's important to know the ins and outs of your report and how to protect your score.
Websites that offer to provide your history for free may have a catchy jingle, but they are also usually earning money from you. Most of those companies offer a monitoring service for a monthly fee. The service itself does not protect fraud, it merely detects activity. By the time they are notified, the damage has already been done. The same information is truly free through the major credit bureaus and is available once a year.
It's not always possible to make payments exactly on time, but late payments may show up on your history. Pay these off as close to the original due date as possible. If your score is low, review your payment schedules for outstanding debts. More than one third of a score is related to debts that are more than thirty days past due. So, be sure to be on top of any accounts that are currently in good standing.
About one third of your reported score is comprised of open accounts. Even if they haven't been used in years, these accounts should not all be closed. They are a direct testament to your financial responsibility. Additionally, there is a desirable credit to debt ratio that shows financial responsibility.
Whenever a company runs a check for, say, a new card or loan application, it leaves a mark on the account that lasts up to one year. Too many marks is an indicator of financial mismanagement. This means that applying repeatedly or to too many places for financing can have a huge negative impact on your score. So the lesson here is to be cautious with when and how often you apply.
Parents should help their children learn financial responsibility as well as how to build a positive history. This can start with a secured card that the child uses infrequently, and works to pay off themselves.
Major life changes usually involve investigation into your credit report. Usually it is a third party doing the checking, such as a potential new employer or business partner. It is never wise to misrepresent yourself or the items that will be found in your history. Being up front and learning to tackle old problems head on will be a much safer route than attempting to cover one's tracks.
Websites that offer to provide your history for free may have a catchy jingle, but they are also usually earning money from you. Most of those companies offer a monitoring service for a monthly fee. The service itself does not protect fraud, it merely detects activity. By the time they are notified, the damage has already been done. The same information is truly free through the major credit bureaus and is available once a year.
It's not always possible to make payments exactly on time, but late payments may show up on your history. Pay these off as close to the original due date as possible. If your score is low, review your payment schedules for outstanding debts. More than one third of a score is related to debts that are more than thirty days past due. So, be sure to be on top of any accounts that are currently in good standing.
About one third of your reported score is comprised of open accounts. Even if they haven't been used in years, these accounts should not all be closed. They are a direct testament to your financial responsibility. Additionally, there is a desirable credit to debt ratio that shows financial responsibility.
Whenever a company runs a check for, say, a new card or loan application, it leaves a mark on the account that lasts up to one year. Too many marks is an indicator of financial mismanagement. This means that applying repeatedly or to too many places for financing can have a huge negative impact on your score. So the lesson here is to be cautious with when and how often you apply.
Parents should help their children learn financial responsibility as well as how to build a positive history. This can start with a secured card that the child uses infrequently, and works to pay off themselves.
Major life changes usually involve investigation into your credit report. Usually it is a third party doing the checking, such as a potential new employer or business partner. It is never wise to misrepresent yourself or the items that will be found in your history. Being up front and learning to tackle old problems head on will be a much safer route than attempting to cover one's tracks.
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