Tips to Improve Your Credit Health
Join our #CreditChat on Periscope, YouTube Live, Twitter, and Snapchat every Wednesday at 3 p.m ET. It’s the New Year and we will be discussing tips to improve your credit health to start the year off right.
The panel included: Shannon McNay: Writer for Student Loan Hero; Rod Griffin: Director of Public Education at Experian; and Christina Roman: Social Media Specialist at Experian.
We also featured financial tips all week on Snapchat.
Questions We Discussed:
- Q1: What is the best way to gauge your credit health?
- Q2: What is a good credit score range?
- Q3: What are the first steps you should take if your credit needs improvement?
- Q4: What factors impact your credit score negatively?
- Q5: What are best practices when trying to rehabilitate your credit?
- Q6: What should you do if you have accounts in collection?
- Q7: What should you do if you want to improve your credit, but you are having trouble making ends meet?
- Q8: How long does it take to improve your credit score?
- Q9: What resources are available for those who want to learn how to manage credit better?
- Q10: Any final tips for someone interested in improving their credit health in 2018?
Tips and Resources to Help You Improve Your Credit Health:
The first step is to get copies of your credit reports from Experian and each of the other national credit reporting companies. If you find anything to be inaccurate, follow their dispute instructions to have it corrected. Learn more here.
You need to know your credit scores because they are often used by lenders and banks as they decide whether to offer you credit, such as a credit card, mortgage or auto loan. What is a fair credit score? Learn more here.
On the FICO scale, a score above 800 is considered exceptional. But anything above 670 is considered to be good. Learn how to get your credit score above 700 here.
Pay your bills on time. Delinquent payments and collections can have a major negative impact on a credit score. Learn more about positive credit behaviors and credit factors here.
Paying off your bills is a very important step in restoring your creditworthiness and your credit scores, but it is only the first step. If you stop using credit now, you are essentially freezing your credit history where it stands. To help your credit scores increase you need to start adding positive, current activity. Learn more here.
Tips to Improve Your Credit Health
If you’ve never heard about #CreditChat, here is a brief overview: