Credit Score Guide

Your personal credit report score largely determines the rates you can qualify for with most types of credit. The higher your score, the better rates you can get. To find your score, you can request it from a credit monitoring service or credit reporting agency. Most credit monitoring companies will provide it free with an introductory offer, but you will have to pay for it from a reporting agency.

With hundreds of factors determining your credit score, there are many ways to improve it. The follow three are the quickest ways to boost your numbers.

1. Pay Off Short Term Debt

The less debt you have, the better your score. Actually, creditors look at your debt to income ratio. They also rate debt differently. So credit cards are seen as more negative that college loans or a mortgage.

Focus on paying off short term debt first, like credit cards. Paying off the other debt can come later. However, having credit cards and making regular payments is better than having no credit.

2. Spread Debt Around

Not only do lenders look at your general debt load, they also consider specific accounts. Maxing out any account is seen negatively. It is better to spread that debt around to multiple accounts. Most advisors suggest having no more than 30% to 50% of a line of credit in use.