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Money Girl

135 MG Five Ways to Raise Your Credit Score

Actively manage your credit rating-a free audiobook excerpt!Like what you hear? Help us out by writing a review at iTunes. Questions go to money@qdnow.com. Thank you!

Broadcast on:
05 Aug 2009
Audio Format:
other

Actively manage your credit rating-a free audiobook excerpt!Like what you hear? Help us out by writing a review at iTunes. Questions go to money@qdnow.com. Thank you!

Building a portfolio with Fidelity Basket Profolios is kinda like making a sandwich. It's as simple as picking your stocks and ETFs, sort of like your meats and other topics. And managing it as one big juicy investment. That's pretty good. Learn more at Fidelity.com/baskets. Investing involves risks including risk of loss. Fidelity Brokers Services, LLC. Member NYSC SIPC. H5N1 bird flu is spreading in some animals. If you work with poultry, dairy cows, wild animals, or with raw, unpasteurized milk, wear protective gear, and take precautions. cdc.gov/birdflu, a message from CDC. Hi everyone, I'm Laura Adams, and you're listening to Money Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for A Ritual Life. Before we get started, I have a quick announcement. My new audiobook Money Girl's 10 Steps to a Debt-Free Life went on sale last month. I'm really excited about it because I know it's going to help a lot of people. It's full of specific techniques to assess your financial health, create a realistic spending plan, reduce all kinds of debt, lower your taxes, save money, and more all in a step-by-step format. You'll be surprised how easy it is to create a more secure financial future. You will owe less, own more, and rest easier. Today's show is a free excerpt from the audiobook. I discussed five ways to raise your credit score and why raising your credit score will help you get out of debt faster and then live debt-free. I hope you enjoy it. Find Money Girl's 10 Steps to a Debt-Free Life on sale at audible.com and in the iTunes Store. Your credit score has a somewhat secret life. It's changing and being manipulated by your financial decisions even though it's out of sight. One of the reasons you need to be mindful of this underground credit world is because it affects how much credit you can get and what interest rate you'll pay for it. The better your credit rating, the more favorable and less risky you appear to potential lenders, landlords, insurers, and employers, for example. A good credit score helps them quickly approve your applications and offer you the best credit terms available, which can translate to paying less and saving more, which is critical for getting out of debt and then living debt-free. Your job is to take the mystery out of your credit rating by pulling back the veil as often as you can. You can get your credit reports from each of the three major credit bureaus, Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian for free once a year. The best strategy is to space them out so you get a different one every four months. Put it on your calendar to go to annualcreditreport.com where you can view or download them. Look for any incorrect personal or credit information and be sure to dispute it with the Bureau right away. You'll notice that your free credit reports do not reveal your actual credit score. Unfortunately, you have to pay for those. You can purchase your score from the individual Bureau websites or even from MyFICO.com. You don't need to buy your score from each one, especially if all your free credit reports look about the same. The current price at MyFICO.com for a score report from one of the bureaus is $15.95. September is a great month for planning. We start thinking about the rest of the year, whether it's back to school, big year-end work projects, holiday plans or travel. Planning ahead is crucial in life, especially when it comes to what happens when you're gone. Getting life insurance may sound daunting, but policy genius makes the process a breeze. With policy genius, you can find insurance policies that start at just $292 a year for a million dollars of coverage. Some options offer same-day approval and avoid unnecessary medical exams. Policy Geniuses technology lets you compare quotes from America's top insurers in just a few clicks to find your lowest price. It's the country's leading online insurance marketplace. And if you ever need help or guidance, they have an expert license support team to answer your questions, handle all the paperwork, and advocate for you throughout the process. It's never too late to plan ahead. Go to policygenius.com or click the link in the description to get your free life insurance quotes and see how much you can save. That's policygenius.com. H5N1 bird flu is spreading in poultry and cows. It's rare in people, but bird flu can make you sick. If you work with poultry, dairy cows, wild animals, or withdraw unpasteurized milk, wear protective gear like coveralls, NIOSH-approved respirators and eye protection, and wash your hands often. If you start feeling sick, seek medical care and tell them you work with animals. Learn how to reduce your risk at cdc.gov/birdflu, a message from CDC. Like any good agent, we're here for the open house, for the closing, for handing over keys. But because we're realtors, we're here for so much more. Agents who are realtors volunteer at nearly three times the national average. We're working to broaden access to credit, increase affordable housing supply, and ensure fair housing for all. And realtors are bound by a code of ethics. We're here for it all. Realtors are members of the National Association of Realtors. That's who we are. There are five main ways you can positively influence and raise your credit rating going forward. The first one is pretty obvious. Pay all your bills on time. Your payment history influences your credit score the most. Never let an overdue account get turned over to a collections agency. Many companies won't take the time to report an overdue dent to the three credit bureaus, but the collection agencies they hire usually do. The second way to manage your credit score is to keep a good cushion of available credit. That means never max out all your available credit lines. For example, if you have a $5,000 credit card limit, a good rule of thumb is to never let your balance exceed 50% of that amount. Keeping a sufficient gap between your current balance and your available credit line shows lenders that you're not the type to overextend yourself. It's better to have two credit cards that each have balances below 50% of your credit limits than to have one card that you consistently max out. The third way is to apply for a credit limit increase. If you use credit cards responsibly, but still charge more than 50% of your available limit, apply for a credit limit increase. Call the company or complete an online credit request at their website. The higher your credit limit with the major credit cards, the more likely potential lenders will be to extend you credit as well. And higher limits also help you maintain a larger credit cushion. The fourth way to actively manage your credit score is to have at least one major credit card account in good standing. That shows that you're responsible with your money. I know that I've discouraged you from using credit cards because they're so easy to abuse. But if you can occasionally make a small charge and pay the bill off in full each month, you can slowly improve your credit rating. If you have credit card accounts that you don't use anymore, consider keeping them open and just shredding the card. That's because the length of time that you have credit history is important too. Having a 10-year-old account with good history, even though you don't currently use it, will usually work in your favor. And the fifth suggestion is to limit new inquiries on your report. Don't apply for any new retail charge cards. Many stores try to entice you to do that by offering discounts and promotions for opening a new account. Lots of inquiries make you appear too impulsive or eager for new credit. However, checking your own credit report and score, even if you do it frequently, does not damage your rating. There's a surprisingly fun way to learn the basics of maintaining good credit at the U.S. Treasury's website called controlyourcredit.gov. You can play an interactive game in a haunted hotel where clues lead to credit information as you solve each mystery. The tips in this show came straight from my brand-new audiobook, Money Girl's 10 Steps to a Debt-Free Life. Each simple step leads you down a path toward getting out of debt and staying out of debt for good. So head over to audible.com or to the iTunes Store and check it out. You can now follow me on Twitter under the username, Laura Adams. I'll share financial tips, resources, and whatever I'm up to. Also, there was a technical problem with the Money Girl voicemail line, so I have a new number, which is 206-339-9069. Don't be shy. I'd love to hear a message from you. If you forget any of this contact info, find it in the Money Girl section at quickandertitits.com. I'm glad you're listening. Cha-ching! That's all for now. Courtesy of Money Girl, your guide to a richer life. H5N1 bird flu is spreading in poultry and cows. It's rare in people, but bird flu can make you sick. If you work with poultry, dairy cows, wild animals, or with raw, unpasteurized milk, wear protective gear like coveralls, NIOSH-approved respirators, and eye protection, and wash your hands often. If you start feeling sick, seek medical care and tell them you work with animals. Learn how to reduce your risk at cdc.gov/birdflu, a message from CDC. There are any number of reasons you might consider selling your home. To move closer to family, live within a smaller budget, or just running a change of scenery. Whatever your reasons, having to figure out all the various housing market trends in your area may not be what you signed up for. That's where an agent who is a realtor comes in. Realtors have the expertise to help you find the right price and navigate the process to sell your home in a way that's right for you. That's who we are. Realtors are members of the National Association of Realtors. [BLANK_AUDIO]