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The Importance of a Good Credit Rating
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The following is a guest post. Enjoy!
The Importance of Keeping Track of Your Credit Report/Score
The Threat of Identity Theft
How about you all? How often do you check your credit report and/or score? What service do you use to check it? Do you have to pay a fee, or do you view it for free?
Are you actively doing anything now to protect yourself from identity theft?
Share your experiences by commenting below!
Jacob’s Thoughts – Listed below are my random thoughts as I was reading this article.
- Good post here. It’s always worthwhile to get a reminder every once in a while about remembering to check my credit report/score occasionally.
- Right now, I probably check my credit report less than I should (once a year is generally how often I check it). When I do check it, I do so for free using AnnualCreditReport.com. Unfortunately, you can only view your credit report (not score) for free once per year. So, if you want to check in more often, you have to find another paid service to help you. But, they are easy to find.
- I was also recently exposed to a service that claims to let you check your credit score for free – Credit Karma. However, one of my fellow blogging friends (Wealth Informatics) pointed out that the score reported on Credit Karma is not your actual FICO score, but rather something called the Transunion TransRisk score. The problem with using this credit score as your sole source of information is that not all lenders will use this score when assessing your ability to lend/repay money.
- Regarding identity theft, this is becoming more of a prevalent problem in today’s society.
- Previously on my site, I described a list of 4 things a person can do for very little money to help protect themselves from identity theft.
- Two free and effective things included on this list were placing a free fraud alert on your credit report every 3 months and to Opt out Pre-Screen from receiving as much junk mail (which contains your personal identifying information on it).
***Photo courtesy of Image: David Castillo Dominici / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
About the Author Jacob A Irwin
Hi folks! My name is Jacob. I am the owner and operator of My Personal Finance Journey. I started this blog in January of 2010 and have enjoyed the journey ever since. Since finishing up graduate school in Virginia in 2014, I have been working in biopharmaceutical development in Colorado. You can read more about me and this site here. Please contact me if you have any questions!
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This is something I need to get better at. I need to order my credit report and score at least once a year. I used to but I stopped a couple years ago
My recent post Business Survival in a Down Economy
I tend to forget this kind of stuff too Evan. However, I've started using more Outlook Calender pop-up reminders, and that seems to help keep me on track.
My recent post Sensible Spending and Saving For You And Your Family
It is important to check periodically to find incorrect information. Many years ago there was an incorrect negative on my report. I filed the proper request to have it investigated and later confirmed it was removed. About 2 years later, the SAME issue was reported again and back on my report. So now I pull a free report from the 3 bureaus each year.
My recent post It’s Tax Time
Crazy to hear JB that they made the same mistake twice! Good thing that you were able to catch it.
My recent post Sensible Spending and Saving For You And Your Family
I pull people's credit every day I would say the average score that I see is 690. It is extremely important to have a good score. Most banks check your credit score even when opening a simple checking account. I agree with youngandthrifty on the fact there should be more classes geared toward teaching students financial responsibility.
My recent post My Favorite Financial Apps
Thanks for sharing Paul!
My recent post Sensible Spending and Saving For You And Your Family
A good credit rating is so important! Many employers have started using it against people during the hiring process. This is why financial responsibility is something every college student needs to learn before leaving school.
Thanks for sharing Y&T! I have heard the same thing. Do you know of anyone personally that has had their credit history used against them for a job?
My recent post Sensible Spending and Saving For You And Your Family