| In my mortgage business, I rarely see 800 credit | | | | check the local SSI office every 6 months to get a |
| scores. I have several pieces of sound advice based | | | | printout of your earnings. You don't want anyone |
| on my experience that I would like to share with you | | | | earning income under your credit number! |
| now so you can get those high credit scores. Even the | | | | Clean all inaccurate, outdated, and unauthorized |
| richest man or woman may not be using their credit as | | | | requests. A few phone calls to the major Bureaus, |
| wisely as they could. Do you hate debt and can't sleep | | | | after ordering reports, can give you 50 points or more. |
| at night because of it? I completely understand that | | | | Be nice, persistent, and concise. Use multiple calls if |
| question. | | | | needed, and ask for the supervisor. Avoid repair |
| The majority of my clients hover between a score of | | | | services and don't pay for repair kits because there is |
| 600-700, and it seems everyone has a small blemish | | | | so much credible free info available to you from the |
| or two. The worst injustice I've seen is when a client | | | | Internet. *Write to: Next, be sure to never, ever be late |
| with a perfect record owes perhaps $100 for a | | | | on a mortgage. Being periodically late on credit cards is |
| medical company which over time can eat 50 points | | | | okay, however, call the lender and let them know that |
| out of a perfect score. It sickens me when I see this. | | | | you will be doing this. Try to never exceed 30 days |
| My first piece of advice is to pay the $100 bill and fight | | | | past the due date as it's destructive and they will |
| it later if you feel the charges are unjustified. Just a | | | | report the late payment. Many major cards now have |
| few key points lost off your credit score can equal | | | | small print stating: "If you are late once, it is considered |
| huge losses in added interest on your next purchases | | | | a default and high rates apply; other card issuers have |
| (car, credit card, house, insurance policy, etc.) The | | | | the right to increase rates as well." One card can now |
| injustice can just snowball. | | | | affect all of your other cards, so great care must be |
| Some additional financial advice I offer you is: First, | | | | taken. Also remember that lenders will waive late |
| check your three credit reports often (Experian, | | | | payments every 3-6 months per account. *I highly |
| TransUnion, & Equifax). You could be a victim of | | | | recommend avoiding auto-payments for technical |
| credit card fraud which is a living nightmare having the | | | | reasons. |
| effect of being a huge drain on time, resources, and | | | | Finally, start a plan to pay down debt and WRITE IT |
| your health. Check your reports at least every six | | | | DOWN. The easiest way for most people to get a |
| months, but for high net-worth people, checking every | | | | fast jumpstart on perfecting their credit scores is by |
| 2-4 weeks is a good rule of thumb. (Hint: Tri-Reports | | | | creating a family budget and actually sticking to it. |
| and Scores are provided free with any mortgage | | | | Earning extra income is also easy to do if you put the |
| quote in the U.S.) | | | | effort in. Call each lender to ask for lower rates, to find |
| New Prepaid Legal Plans also have some nice | | | | low balance transfer offers, and close the smaller or |
| protection services, but beware because most general | | | | inactive accounts. |
| protection services are a scam. Finally, I would also | | | | |