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Tags: finance, credit, the importance of a good credit score
 We’re passing the mid-point of the year 2009 and as move forward to the coming years, let’s refresh our understanding about the fundamentals on how to maintain good FICA scores. Reminding yourself on the importance of a good credit score is an important help towards you financial stability and so let me get right on with it then.
Now or in the near future, you may have plans of buying a house, a car or anything else that will require the use of your FICA scores. Most of the time, such a purchase would involve having the seller look at your financial history to see just how worthy you are in terms of payment stability—they want to make sure you will always pay and pay on time.
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This means that you must not mess up your financial history as this may detrimentally affect your credit score. Let’s go straight to how this can be done and it helps to do this step by step. First thing you need to do is to look at your credit history.
This will have information on your financial accounts, any and all late payments that you have made in the past. You can request for a free copy of your financial history from anyone of the three major Credits-Bureaus. Once you get your copy make sure everything in it is accurate.
Make sure to check for any, and I mean any, discrepancies since it will affect your credit score. If you find an error, inform the responsible institution/s as soon as possible so they can do the necessary changes. At the same time keep tabs on your plastics. You know: VISA, MasterCard, or DISCOVERY.
Check to make sure you are not over your limits. Keep your balances up to date and make sure you have no delinquencies. Late payments, charge-offs or any other such actions all have a major negative effect on your credit score. Use your cards in moderation. Try not to maximize you cards—I recommend maintaining you’re your balances below 30% (or even less) of your maximum card limit.
Try to keep your debt to limit ratio as low as possible. At the same time don’t apply for to many cards at one time. While it may seem inconsequential to you this will negatively reflect on you and your credit score. Creditors will see it as you simply card hopping.
At the same time they will wonder if you will be able to pay your debts. And of course the more cards you have the higher the chances you will be debt ridden. And if you do have more than a few cards, don’t cancel the old ones even if you’re not using them, especially if you have a good record with them.
Yes cancelling them will help lessen your potential burden but you will also lose the good history that they bring. Without their history your credit score may go down. Maintaining a good credit score is not as hard as you may think. Some of simply requires good old fashioned common sense.
Don’t make it more complicated that it really is. And should you require assistance there are a myriad of professionals willing to sit down and help you understand things so you make the proper decisions. You just need to be willing to work with them.
About the author
The author of this article Rick Goldfeller is a successful underground Financial Analyst who has been advising and coaching individuals for many years. Rick recently published a book on how to manage your money and attract Wealth and Financial Freedom. More info on his Finance Planning course is available HERE.
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