Your credit score is one of the most important pieces of your overall financial equation. However, it’s certainly not the only piece. Lenders will rely on your credit score. They use it to determine how much risk they would assume by giving you a loan.Your score is just a starting point. Your credit report may
Terry Knight, the 31-year-old founder of Spark Ads Agency in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, can tell you a thing or two about credit card debt. Some 10 years ago, while still in school, he was laid off from a part-time job and started using his credit card to help pay living expenses. He quickly went
Fair Isaac, the giant credit score company, recently announced the biggest change since 2014 in how it determines its FICO credit scores. This new FICO 10 system — expected to go into effect by year’s end — could affect your retirement in big ways, possibly for the worse and possibly for the better. But there
A new hurdle awaits many younger consumers who already find it challenging to build a credit history and become good borrowing risks. It’s called FICO Score 10 Suite, an update to the credit scoring algorithms created by Fair Isaac Corp. that are widely used by credit card issuers and other lenders. It is scheduled to
If you’re worried someone could steal your personal identity and buy something on credit or get a loan in your name, “freezing” your account at credit reporting bureaus could stop identity thieves cold. Not only that, Congress recently passed a law that ordered credit reporting bureaus to offer free credit freezes. More on that below.
On-time payments are a solid way to build your credit score. Your payment history constitutes 35% of your credit score – the largest contributor among the five factors used in calculating your score. Payments on most debts are reported to the three major credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion) for inclusion in your credit report,