Does Your FICO Score Make A Good First Impression?

Your FICO score or credit score is important to your financial well-being. This 3-digit number influences the way lenders and other credit granters put reliance on your promise to repay a loan or pay for goods. This means they will offer you a particular interest rate on your car loan, or an extra $10,000 line of credit all because of your score. So the next time you go looking for a few thousand dollars to finish your basement, or to take your dream vacation, your first impression will come from the credit score your lender calculated.  

Around the time you intend to apply for a loan, several factors can decrease your FICO score and, therefore, your ability to qualify for credit and low interest rates.  Obviously, if you have made several late payments and owe much money to your creditors, you will have a low FICO score. On the other hand, if you use credit responsibly and wisely, you will no doubt have an excellent score that you can leverage into more loans and attractive interest rates. This means getting more money for the major items you want buy without having to use your savings, or waiting until you have enough money saved. Also, if  your balance is about 75 percent of your credit limit, this can reduce your score because you are borrowing more than you are paying back. Contrast this with using only 25 percent of your limit and smiling all the way to your next loan approval.

You also want to be selective about the credit accounts you hold. Gas cards and other retail cards do not hold much value when computing your FICO score. Credit cards from national banks rule the credit roost. If you hold any of the major credit cards, these count toward a more useful score than the retail cards. Perhaps it is because almost anyone can get the retail cards freely without proof of income or  responsible spending habits.  But you still need to show you are a responsible credit user because credit reporting agencies calculate your score using five critical elements from your credit history. These include your payment history, the amounts your currently owe,  your overall credit history, new credit you have, and the types of credit you use. You should pay attention to all of these if you considering improving your FICO score.

Technically, your FICO score comes from a complex algorithm that weighs different aspects of your past and present financial situation to predict how good of a credit risk you are. It considers your entire credit or payment history, and improving your score is within your reach. However, there is no fast solution for increasing your score. You just have to be patient and apply good financial fundamentals. Pay your bills on time, pay off your balances each month, and do not use credit for silly spending.  Your efforts will pay off handsomely if you stick with a  good credit plan. Your FICO score is just as important as your social security number. Guard it with your life.