Your FICO score is the most commonly used measurement to assess how well you manage and organize your finances. Banks, lenders, credit card companies, and other companies use your FICO credit score to determine whether or not to approve you, and where to set your interest rates. By frequently checking your FICO score and carefully managing your finances you can maintain a high credit score.
There are literally hundreds of financial variables that can have a positive or negative effect on your FICO rating. The most important of these factors, by far, is whether you make your bill payments on time. Making late payments on credit card, cell phone, and utility bills can be the kiss of death for your credit rating, and consequently your interest rates. There can also be errors on your credit report which can lower your credit score. These out-dated, duplicate, and fraudulent entries can only be detected by reviewing your FICO score and reporting them to the proper credit reporting agency.
So, by now you are probably wondering “how do I find my FICO score for free?” Well, there’s good news for you. Because of recent laws passed by the federal government, every American citizen is legally entitled to receive a free copy of their credit report once per year. This is easily done by requesting a free FICO report from one of the dozens of approved credit reporting websites online. The whole process only take a few minutes and will give you a better understanding of your finances and what steps you can take to improve and maintain your FICO credit score.
