FICO Number-Anyone watch/track theirs?

[Killer Bee]

A good credit score impacts more than just borrowing money , it affects things like auto insurance rates etc ..................

this.

I bought a house with an existing mortgage on another house to make our cross country move at our convenience.

while I did pretty well at work and have a pretty decent financial portfolio, qualifying for $7400/mo in combined mortgages is a tough nut to crack without top tier credit.

happy ending to that story, only had to actually pay two mortgages for one month and avoided using any storage and, last but certainly not least, paid off both houses. :D

but although now we're in the 7 digit club and growing, I'm still interested in keeping good credit for more future purchase power.

good luck!

 

[Jeepnik]

At my age, short of a natural disaster destroying my house, I will never need to buy anything using "credit" again. So credit scores don't matter. There is one downside of a great credit score. Weekly I get junk mail wanting me to take out new cards, or buy expensive stuff I don't either want or need. And if the snail mail isn't enough the spam is worse. Then too there are the requests for "donations".

 

[blume357]

A few years back I read the biography of Alexander Hamilton.... by all accounts he was some kind of genius. For good or bad he firmly believed the way to make America strong was for the country to be in debt .... I still can't figure that out but it seems he was right. He also realized to grow we not only needed to grow or make what we needed but also to sell it to other countries... the conflict was that those who believed different from him, mostly farmers in the south thought banks were evil and we, the country, needed to be agricultural. In the book one of our leaders back then, don't remember which one, said he'd choose to go into a house of ill repute before a bank. Of course that is still mostly true for today's politicians... or at least they like both.

 

[GasGuzzler]

Weekly I get junk mail wanting me to take out new cards, or buy expensive stuff I don't either want or need. And if the snail mail isn't enough the spam is worse. Then too there are the requests for "donations".

You get more junk mail with bad or no credit.

 

[NC FNS]

Let’s just say my SAT math score was higher than my credit score will ever be, unless I get off my butt and make a ton of money. I can say that when you’re dead, it goes to 0, as I found out when Social Security marked me dead.

 

[Bear Paw Jack]

Let’s just say my SAT math score was higher than my credit score will ever be, unless I get off my butt and make a ton of money. I can say that when you’re dead, it goes to 0, as I found out when Social Security marked me dead.

Were you one of those people who are 120 years old?

 

[NC FNS]

Were you one of those people who are 120 years old?

No, probably someone reversed a couple of SSN digits when entering a death into the system.

 

[Yaworski]

For good or bad he firmly believed the way to make America strong was for the country to be in debt .... I still can't figure that out but it seems he was right.

I'm not an economist but I have trouble swallowing that. I believe that for a person, country, or company, debt is not good. I have no debt and I am far better off than I was when I was in debt. I hope to remain debt free for the rest of my days.

 

[Mobuck]

One of my credit card statements shows my FICO score. It's good and I'm just guessing it's not higher is because I maintain two fairly high $$ limit credit cards even though both are paid in full each month. :unsure:

 

[Yaworski]

One of my credit card statements shows my FICO score. It's good and I'm just guessing it's not higher is because I maintain two fairly high $$ limit credit cards even though both are paid in full each month. :unsure:

I don't think that anyone really understands credit scores. Mine was about 840 until I decided to open a open a Macy's card to get a discount. I think my credit line is $500 and my FICO fell to 770. Same thing happened a few years back when I opened an Amazon card with an insanely low limit.

Too much available credit is bad. Too little is bad. Opening credit is bad. Not opening credit is bad.

 

[GasGuzzler]

^^^ THIS ^^^

 

[Johnnu2]

I'm 81 and I've never even THOUGHT about looking at my credit score.

J.

 

[Terry Morgan]

I'm 81 and I've never even THOUGHT about looking at my credit score.

J.

I was president of the local credit union for 10 years (volunteer position, small CU) and never knew my credit score. If I can't pay cash, I don't get it, unless medical.

 

[Ranger]

Debt can either drown you or be a good tool.

Know some that borrowed bunch of money, bought bunch of farm land and equipment during boom before Carter's trade and inflation fiasco. Many never recovered. Using debt for consumables is rarely fiscally prudent.

Know others more recently that borrowed 1+ million on long term fixed rate mortage at 2.5 - 3.5% to buy farmland that gained value dramatically. They also used surplus funds to max retirement accounts that returned several times the interest rate percentage and did so tax deferred. By smart and lucky use of debt, they used other people's money to build wealth.

How it is used makes a huge difference.

On the flip side, know some that had tens of thousands in cash. That is now worth much less. Also know some that took tens of thousands in cash and bought silver and gold right before it surged. It is obviously now worth a lot more.

 

[Ranger]

That mortgage loan interest on the farm ground is also tax deductible.

Things are never as simple as they seem.

 

[Joe Chartreuse]

I have something over 800, but who cares? Every time I use credit ( and I always pay a bill before it's due- I hate paying interest.) the score changes. Enough. I just pay my bills and stopped worrying about it.

 

[tazbigdog]

I keep an eye on it to make sure nothing else impacts it, like unauthorized uses. Always around 800.

 

[Yaworski]

I keep an eye on it to make sure nothing else impacts it, like unauthorized uses. Always around 800.

I do the same.

 

[GasGuzzler]

That mortgage loan interest on the farm ground is also tax deductible.

So is the interest on a regular house.

 

[Ranger]

Remember during the Biden administration when they were penalizing people with higher fico scores? I don't remember the details now but it reminded me of Pritzker giving cannabis dispensary applicants bonus points if they had previous drug abuse convictions.

 

[Ranger]

AI found it...

• Mortgage Fee Adjustments: In 2023, changes were introduced to fee structures, which were interpreted as lowering costs for borrowers with lower credit scores while increasing fees for those with higher scores.

 

[hittman]

Great explanation