Coming to Grips With Your Credit Score and Things That Can Affect Your Rating

There are three major things that have an extremely pronounced effect on your credit rating. Want to know what they are? Keep reading, because I’m going to lift up the curtains and tell you exactly what you need to know.

A credit score can be somewhat of a mysterious thing to many people, because the information about what specific things have an effect on your credit score isn’t exactly out there in the open for you. The truth of the matter is that while a credit score is a complicated thing, there are a few specific factors that affect a credit rating more than anything else.

First of all, your payment history has a large effect on your credit score that is not to be understated. Even an occasional late payment on your credit report can have harsh consequences for your credit rating, while you will be rewarded for maintaining a healthy history with your payments.

Another factor that is almost just as important as paying your credit card bills on time is to be careful to not max out all of your credit cards. The closer you are to your overall maximum credit limit, the more apparent it is that you are having trouble paying off your debts, and your credit score will take a hit as a result.

A third factor that plays into your credit rating which many people tend to overlook is the average age of your credit accounts. Young people typically struggle with this aspect of their credit rating. The only straightforward way to deal with this problem is to leave your accounts open and wait. Let me give you some credit rating tips: never close an old account unless you have a very good reason to, and avoid opening too many new accounts if you already have a good average age on your accounts.

Those three factors are not the only things that will determine your credit rating, but from my experience those three things are all you need to focus on if you want to establish a healthy credit profile.

Don’t over complicate this. To maintain a healthy credit score, simply pay your credit card bills on time, keep your balances down, and keep your accounts open for long periods of time. By following that simple three step method, you will begin to build an extremely potent credit rating, even if it takes a few years.

You may have heard of Lexington Law, a notorious company that claims to increase your credit score by helping you to have negative items removed from your report. Here is my review on this company: Lexington Law Review

Written by Paul Prince on January 15th, 2010 with no comments.
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