When you’re rebuilding your credit history – after a financial hiccup, after bankruptcy – or if you’re building it for the first time when you’re just starting out, it’s important to understand how the credit score is calculated and how you can impact the components ...
Everyone wants good credit. The idea of having bad credit is embarrassing and a secret most people don’t want anyone else to know. Even if you don’t want to buy a house or car and don’t like the idea of having credit cards in your ...
Finances and credit scores are something we all deal with, but sometimes the words and phrases that get thrown around might be confusing. Even if you think you know what a certain term means, you might be wrong. Lack of knowledge can cost you. Today ...
A data breach at credit reporting bureau Equifax may affect more than 140 million consumers. The breach happened between May and July 2017 and resulted in hackers gaining access to names, addresses, social security numbers, dates of birth and maybe even drivers’ license numbers. Credit ...
Student loans, like most financial obligations, have the power to impact your credit score for the positive or the negative, depending on whether you pay on time, late, or have fallen into default. With most grads now leaving school with more than $30k in student ...
Bouncing back after bankruptcy is a journey and those that racked up big credit card debt that was discharged in Chapter 7 or 13 might be gun shy about plastic. However, rebuilding your credit score after bankruptcy is critical and it’s almost impossible to do ...
Although it seems counter-intuitive, the fact is that if you do not use your credit cards, it can (indirectly) harm your FICO score. You might think it’s enough to have a few credit card accounts in your name, that you rarely or never use so ...
Most credit cards offer the option to take a cash advance. Some card issuers send out blank checks you can write that, when cashed, will operate as a cash advance. Others provide a pin number so you can easily take out cash at an ATM ...
Once you ditch your debt using bankruptcy, the next step is rebuilding your credit. Getting credit cards and using them wisely is key to re-establishing your credit as fast as possible. The downside to being so deep in debt that you turn to bankruptcy ...
When you think about getting older, you might focus on the negatives. You may not be able to jog as far as you once could, and you’ll notice a few smile lines and some gray hairs. However, lots of things also get better with ...