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How to Improve Your Credit Score – Advice From a Banker
By JLP | December 3, 2007
Bankergirl has some tips on how to improve your credit score. Take a wild guess as to those who usually have the highest scores. They are typically:
- Married (don’t know why this is)
- Over age 40
- Have fewer than four credit cards
- Use credit cards regularly and payoff balances monthly
- Own a home and have been in it for more than 7 years
She also offers several tips on how to improve your credit score (hence the title of her post). Check it out.
Topics: Credit | 8 Comments »
December 4th, 2007 at 12:16 am
Thanks for the mention! I just began following your blog and really enjoy your asset allocation and 401(k)posts.
December 4th, 2007 at 12:21 am
Older people are more likely to be married. Likewise older people are more likely to own a home.
This isn’t as interesting if you don’t adjust for age.
December 4th, 2007 at 1:46 am
Heidi, I have two issues with your article. Both of them stem from this one line:
“When I pulled my credit report (as a lender I had access to the tools to do this), it was at 572, which is pretty darn crappy (the lowest score possible is 500). ”
1. As a lender, you absolutely do NOT have access to pull your credit info! In fact at any of the financial institutions I worked for I had to sign an agreement stating that I would not use the credit reports (specifically) for personal use. Consider yourself lucky you weren’t fired.
2. The lowest score possible is not a 500, its actually a 300. I can’t find a good cite for this right now (I’m tired!) but this chart on myfico.com shows that 2% of the population is below 499. http://www.myfico.com/CreditEducation/CreditScores.aspx
The lowest score I’ve ever seen was 431 and that was with a recent bankruptcy, multiple liens and judgments, dozens of collection items and everything, I mean everything 120 days+ late!
(Also, your link to AnnualCreditReport.com is borked. Good for you though for linking to the only legit free credit site!)
December 4th, 2007 at 2:56 am
Great Article about bad credit – I have learned a lot – thanks
December 4th, 2007 at 5:16 pm
I think your observations hold true, at least in our case. Our score is over 800, however we do have more than 4 credit cards. However, we just consistently use 4: Amex for business, Target for 10% off on personal shopping day, Citibank Upromise for up to $300/year into oldest’s 529 and Discover for the cash back (actuall for the $5 kicker for Border’s and Red Lobster’s gift cards.)
Now that we’re buying a new home, I shudder to think what will happen to our score: more debt, less than 5 years in current home, etc. However, it is what it is…
December 13th, 2007 at 8:09 pm
This is some great advice! As in all things, keep it simple. Thanks for the advice, I’ll add this to my toolbox when dealing with my credit issues too.
Warmest Regards,
Robert Green
http://ourcreditscore.blogspot.com/
December 15th, 2007 at 3:01 pm
Not true…I pulled my own credit multiple times when working for a wholesale mortgage lender. And most others did the same as well. And the lowest credit score is definitely below 400, not 500.
June 14th, 2010 at 4:43 am
Really great article. Honestly..