3 Easy Ways To Increase Your Credit Score
In the old days the “man behind the desk” decided to give you a loan or not. Your handshake was the contract and your honor was the collateral. Now however the “man” has a name…the name is FICO SCORE.
We can talk about several ways to review your credit but to keep it simple we are going to focus on the credit model created by Fair, Isaac Company. Better known as FICO.
A FICO score is one of the main factors used to determine your interest rate and the amount of a loan you will be offered. A good score makes you a more attractive loan then say someone who has a less then stellar credit history.
Getting and improving your credit score is not hard at all, just takes time. Here is a tip or two that will help you improve and increase your score.
FIRST: Get a copy of your Credit History
You may not have a history for several reasons. Maybe you pay all your bills with cash, maybe you?re a student, maybe you have never needed a loan for anything. All this will have an effect on your history. Don?t be upset…if you?re like most people you will get a credit history far sooner than later.
The easiest way to raise your score is acquire a loan, and pay it off on time. In general, installment loans are weighted more heavily than credit cards. In other words, you will improve your credit score faster if you buy goods with an installment loan, rather than acquiring a credit card.
A second idea is to take a sum of money, let?s say $1000, and put it in to a 6 month CD at a bank or credit union. Then you in turn go and get an installment loan against the first CD as collateral. The final part of this step is to take your new loan and repeat the process 2 more times at a different bank each time.
Now what you have is 3 loans. Pay the minimum payment for 6 months. In the last month, cash out your CDs and pay the loans off. You now have a credit history, and did not go into long term debt to get it.
SECOND: Keeping your history in good standing.
So we now have a good history. How do we get the score higher?
Don’t close your old accounts. One part of your credit score is based on the amount of credit available verses amount of credit used. Closing old accounts can lower this part of your score.
Here is a thing to think about. Paying off your credit cards every month is good money management, but you may be able to improve in this area. Here’s the scenario: you have a $2000 credit card. Every month, you charge about $1800 to that card. And, every month you pay it off. But here’s what happens – your credit card company reports your credit information monthly to FICO. If they report it before you pay off your card, it looks like you carry a balance on your credit card every month. You may find your FICO score improves if you pay off your credit card at a different time of the month.
THIRD: Fix your bad credit
For whatever reason, if you have a poor credit history, there are things you can do to improve your score. Some of them take time, and you will probably be best served by talking to a credit counselor to be sure that you not only repair your credit history, but also eliminate what caused that poor credit history in the first place.
The FICO score is most affected by your credit history. To repair a low credit score start paying your bills onetime. In order of value you need to pay your Mortgage, Installment loans, and last your credit cards.
The next largest portion of your FICO score is based on how you use credit. The fastest way to improve this is to pay down your credit cards.
When you?re all done with the rest of things…review your credit report. Get one from all the credit agencies. Look for errors and mistakes. Contact them to see if they can remove them or correct the errors.
Your FICO score is an important part of your financial life, and using these strategies may help improve your FICO score. Before making any drastic changes to your finances, consult with a financial advisor.
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