Your credit score is an important three-digit number that represents your creditworthiness (i.e., measure of how likely it is that you will repay your debts). It’s a critical factor in various aspects of your financial life, influencing your ability to:
- Secure loans: Lower interest rates on mortgages, auto loans, and personal loans.
- Rent an apartment: Landlords often check credit scores.
- Get approved for credit cards: Higher credit limits and better rewards.
- Obtain insurance: Potentially lower premiums.
How is Your Credit Score Calculated?
In general, several factors contribute to your credit score, with different degrees of importance:
- Payment History (35%): On-time payments on credit cards, loans, and other bills are paramount. Late payments can significantly damage your score.
- Credit Utilization (30%): This refers to the amount of credit you’re using compared to your available credit. Keeping your credit utilization low (ideally below 30%) is crucial.
- Length of Credit History (15%): A longer credit history generally indicates a more stable financial track record.
- Credit Mix (10%): Having a diverse mix of credit accounts (e.g., credit cards, loans) can slightly improve your score.
- New Credit (10%): Frequent applications for new credit can negatively impact your score for up to two years.
Checking Your Credit Score:
You can obtain your credit report for free from the three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. You can also use credit monitoring services or bank websites to access your score.
You can go to http://annualcreditreport.com WEEKLY to review your report for free.
Improving Your Credit Score:
- Make on-time payments: This is the single most important step.
- Lower credit utilization: Pay down existing debt and avoid maxing out your credit cards for rewards or points even if you pay it off fully each month.
- Dispute errors: Review your credit report for any inaccuracies and dispute them with the credit bureaus.
- Consider a secured credit card: This can help build credit history if you have limited or poor credit.
Important Considerations:
- Different credit scoring models exist: FICO and VantageScore are two common models, and they may produce slightly different scores.
- Credit scores can fluctuate: Your score is not static and can change based on your financial behavior. It can take time to improve a credit score sometimes 6, 9 or 12 months or more dependent on your unique situation.
By following this guidance, you can help to increase your score and secure loans and credit at more favorable terms to help enhance ability to pay down debt and improve your overall financial wellness.
If you’re dealing with high interest debt payments as well, see what you can save with Parachute’s Debt Management Plan https://parachutecreditcounseling.org/dmp-calculator/
Would you like to meet one-on-one with one of our Financial Counselors to talk specifically about your credit? Check out our Credit Report Review session https://parachutecreditcounseling.org/services/credit-budget-counseling/#credit-report-review or call 716-712-2060.
