What Do I Need to Know About My Credit Scores?

• Author: Bryan Miller
• Posted: 2024-12-14

You may be wondering: What do I need to know about my credit scores? First, know that your credit scores are a reflection of your financial health. You can help your credit scores by making on-time payments on time, but missing payments or having an account sent to collections can hurt your score. Your credit score will also be affected by lawsuit judgments and identity theft, which can seriously damage your credit score. To know more about your credit score, use the tools available on NerdWallet. You can get your report for free every week from NerdWallet through the end of 2022. Remember that not all information on your credit report is reported to the credit bureaus, so check them often.

Your credit score is largely influenced by how long you have had accounts open. Generally, the longer you have an account, the higher your score will be. Make sure to maintain open accounts that you can afford to pay off on time. However, you shouldn't close old accounts unless they are causing you financial hardship. Keeping a healthy mix of credit types will boost your score. A healthy mix of accounts means having less debt than you have available.

To understand the reasons why your score matters, you should know how credit scores are calculated. Credit scores range from 300 to 850. They represent how likely you are to repay debts. Lenders use your score to determine whether or not you are a good risk for them. Higher scores indicate that you are more likely to make your payments on time. In short, your credit score helps lenders determine whether you qualify for a loan, as well as the interest rate and terms.

While establishing a good credit history can take time, you can make positive changes in your credit score over a long period of time. In general, most scoring systems are based on three factors: timely bill payment, paying off balances, and staying away from new debt. But if you miss a bill, it will negatively impact your credit score. This means you need to make sure to pay off any outstanding balances as soon as possible.

How your credit score is calculated is based on information contained in your credit report. It shows your debt repayment history and helps determine how much you should borrow. This information is collected by the three credit bureaus, including Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion, and is used by lenders to determine risk. If you haven't checked your credit report recently, you can do this by visiting the site.

There are several other factors that affect your credit score, including your credit utilization rate and your credit history length. These two factors contribute about 30 percent of your total score. Lenders want to know that you've been in the credit game for several years. Therefore, the longer your credit history, the higher your credit score will be. Additionally, a diverse range of accounts can boost your score. The more diverse your credit history, the more lenders will be able to tell that you're able to handle different kinds of debt. These accounts need to be in good standing, too.