Your credit report is a very important financial document, containing details of all your financial…
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What factors determine a good credit score?
The first step in getting a good credit score is granting the credit bureaus access to your credit report.
The credit score is also known as Empirical, Beacon Score or Fico Score, and is categorized as very good or excellent when it reaches 770 or more.
A score below 650 means that you may have difficulties when trying to obtain a loan.
5 Myths of Good Credit Score
Myth # 1: If I pay three months in advance, I’ll have better credit.
Fact: While it is true that paying on time helps you maintain a good credit history, paying in advance every three months, does not demonstrate your ability to keep a clean monthly payment history.
Myth # 2: Having a lot of debt helps me obtain more credit points.
Fact: It all depends on a case by case basis; you may have many debts committed to your income, which would generally negatively affect your credit score. On the other hand, the behavior you had in paying your monthly debts does help you to reach good credit.
Myth # 3: If I have no debts, i have good credit.
Fact: Not having any debt is considered to have demonstrated no credit experience; and not having faced the monthly credit payment means that it is difficult to predict your behavior, therefore it may difficult to obtain financing.
Myth # 4: If you get a lot of pre-qualified deals, it must be because you have good credit.
Fact: The pre-qualified offers send to you are promotions exercised by financial institutions and they do not represent an assessment of your ability to pay or repay.
Myth # 5: Having several credit cards without using them makes your credit score better.
Fact: Not necessarily, because keeping open several credit cards means that you can use them at any given time, which may jeopardize your ability to pay your other loans. However, it is recommended to keep open the oldest credit card you have, as this helps your account age. Many people pay the full balance each month to avoid paying interest.
The credit score is considered a reflection of how we manage our finances and, largely, our life. Having credit is not the main cause of financial problems for people, but rather the level of debt they sign up for. It is important to maintain a good balance between our income and our expenses, so that we can maintain the good credit score we have.
More Myths and Facs
5 Myths of Bad Credit Report
When having bad credit we diminish our possibilities of obtaining financing and we may miss out on opportunities or we can even become less credible for others, but we must be aware that it is not the end.
Credit is nothing but debts or obligations you have assumed over time and your behavior with them. Good or bad credit is determined: payment experience, credit utilization, time you have had credit, types of credit and inquiries.
All information collected by the three credit bureaus (Transunion, Equifax, Expirian) determines your credit score. Theoretically, each agency may assign a different score based on the information collected.