The 5 major areas looked at for your credit score.
Do you know how you scored on your credit score? Probably. Do you know what you did to get this score? If not, here are some areas that are used to determine your credit score. Hopefully with this data you can begin to get extra credit in some areas. Here are the 5 basic things that are reviewed which will give you your overall score for credit worthiness.
A history of late payments on several accounts will cause more damage than late payments on a single account.
Paying your bills consistently on time can greatly improve your overall score.
This difference of what you are using vs. what you can use use makes up 30% of your credit score.
Length of credit history. Fifteen percent of your credit score is determined by how long you’ve been using credit. Obviously, the longer your credit history, the more favorable lenders will see you. Your score in this area also takes into account how long it has been since you used certain accounts. So just having an idle card for 10 years won’t necessarily raise your score. Don’t open a lot of new accounts at once to establish a credit history. That strategy will lower the “average account age” on your score, which could affect your score negatively.
Amount of new credit. Each time you apply for new credit, an inquiry shows up on your report. Red flags start waving when you take on more credit—or even just apply for new credit—in a short period of time. This is one area where good habits can work against you. If you prove yourself a reliable bill payer, credit card issuers will be quick to offer additional credit.
Future lenders, however, may not take kindly to all this readily available credit. Some fear you will use it to go on a spending spree, quickly undermining standard calculations for determining how much additional debt you can take on. This area of credit management carries 10% on your overall credit score.
Did you know that there are millions of dollars that fit the category of unclaimed property? Unclaimed property is turned over to the state to find the rightful owner. A check from your last employer that never made it to you, a utility deposit not returned or a safe deposit box left unattended are the most common unclaimed cash. So if you want to find money, do a money search. Simply log in your name and a search of all state and federal databases will be done. You will also find information so you can claim your found money.
