This post is sponsored by Lexington Law Firm! Thank you! It’s companies like this that allows us to keep this website running.
If you ask most people what “the most important number in their life is” many will say it’s their Social Security Number. That makes intuitive sense. It’s the number that binds you to the rest of the country and opens lots of doors. You can’t get a job without it, and you’ll struggle to open a bank account so yes, it’s undeniably important.
Others will say it’s their salary, for obvious reasons. A few singles might say it’s the phone number of that attractive person they met the other night. The truth, however, is that your credit score probably eclipses them all in terms of overall importance. What makes that interesting is that relatively few people spend much time worrying, or even thinking about their credit score, much actively working to fix their credit. If you’re one of those people, then it’s costing you more than you realize. Consider:
Have you ever taken out a loan to buy a car or a house? What interest rate did you have to pay? Did you know that the interest rate you pay is tied directly to your credit score? It’s true – those with good credit (a score of 720 or above) are considered a good credit risk. As such, they get the lowest rates on loans.
If you fall short of that category, you can expect to pay at least 1-2% more in interest (and possibly a lot more than that) every time you take out a loan, and that can really add up over time.
On a five to seven-year car loan, it can add a couple thousand bucks to the amount you’ll pay for your car. On a thirty-year mortgage, it can add tens of thousands of dollars to the amount you’ll ultimately pay for your house. Over the course of your life, you could wind up paying upwards of a hundred thousand dollars more for the stuff you’re going to be buying anyway, and wouldn’t you rather do something else with that money, besides giving it to the bank or finance company? Of course you would!
What we’re really talking about here is quality of life. Obviously, you can survive if you have bad credit, but anything you do that requires OPM (Other People’s Money) will cost you more and thus make it harder. It’s like swimming upstream against a powerful current. There are easier, better ways to get through life, and that starts with paying close attention to your credit score.
The good news is, you don’t have to do it alone. There are lots of great credit repair companies out there who can help, not only with monitoring your score, but if you have debts that have gone to collection, these credit repair companies can help guide you through the maze of consumer protection laws and help you resolve the most damaging items on your credit report as quickly and painlessly as possible, which can result in improvement where your credit score is concerned.
When you have a team of experts on your side, it’s not hard to boost your score, but it does take time, patience and diligence.
This post is sponsored by Lexington Law Firm! Thank you! It’s companies like this that allows us to keep this website running.