preview

Good Credit Score

Decent Essays

Why you need a good credit score and simple actions you can do to improve it
You may find that your credit score is still lower than you would like (or deserve) even after making sure your credit report is accurate. The average FICA credit score has fluctuated between 675 and 700 in recent years, with 850 being the maximum score one could have. People with below average scores must pay high-interest rates. What Can You Do? First, you need to recognize that efforts to improve your credit score take time to have an impact. Most people find that it takes about one year for their score to show much improvement. This is partly because changes take time to show up in your credit report. But it is also true that your credit history stays …show more content…

The time to get started is now. Basically, there are two broad categories for the things you can do to improve your credit score. The first involves improving your financial behaviors. The second involves changing your debt situation. For each, let’s list things you should DO and things you should NOT …show more content…

These items will still stay on your credit re- port but the fact that you made good on the debt will be a plus. DO re-establish your credit if you have had problems in the past. Opening one or two credit accounts and using them responsibly will slowly but surely rebuild your credit score. This may take a few years, however. DO stop using your credit cards if you are not paying your balance in full each month. Using a card on which you carry a balance is almost guaranteed to result in ever-increasing balances. DO NOT ignore debt problems. Credit scores can go down much faster than they can go up. Lenders typically report negative information right away. Again, contacting lenders directly or a telephoning a reputable credit-counseling agency can be of help. DO NOT use repossession as a way to get out from under debt. Repossession negatively affects credit scores even if the repossessed item has sufficient value to pay the debt. And in most cases, its value is not enough to pay off the full balance owed. Thus you will still owe some amount of remaining debt. It would be better to sell the item yourself, add additional funds if necessary, and pay off the debt in

Get Access