Dear TLR,

I wish I could say that if everyone had six credit cards, an auto loan, a mortgage, and two utility accounts they would have a “perfect” credit score, but I can’t. It just isn’t as simple as having a certain number of accounts or certain types of accounts.

Universal advice about credit scores is almost always universally bad, or so vague that it isn’t helpful. The only universal advice I am comfortable giving about credit scores is the obvious:

• Use a mix of accounts to demonstrate that you can manage credit wisely
• Make all of your payments on time
• Keep your debts low

I can confidently say that if everyone were to do those things, over time everyone would have good credit scores.

I can’t be more precise with sweeping advice because every person has a unique credit history. There are approximately 220 million credit active consumers, each with an individual credit report. The same score could result from countless combinations of accounts, balances and payment records.

The best way to find out what you need to do to improve your unique credit history is to get the risk factor statements for the credit score you received.

You can purchase a credit score report from Experian. The credit score report will include a credit score and provide detailed explanations of what from your credit report is positively and negatively affecting that score.

The risk factors might indicate you have too many credit cards, or perhaps too few. They could show that your balances are too high, that you are lacking a certain type of account history, or that you simply do not have a long enough credit history.

You likely won’t see anything about utilities, though. Most utility accounts are not routinely reported to Experian or the other national credit reporting companies, unless they are collection accounts. So, positive utility payments won’t help or hurt credit scores, but a collection account will always hurt credit scores.

By taking steps to address the factors you receive, you will be able to improve your overall credit history and, subsequently, your credit scores. You might find that you are doing nothing wrong in terms of the accounts you have and how you manage them.

It could be that you simply are young, have a short credit history and just need time and patience for your score to get better.

Thanks for asking.