How To Fix Your Credit While Still In Your 20s

Take it from someone currently in their 20s – maintaining good credit can be a difficult task. Heck, I know plenty of millennials who have absolutely no credit history.

A recent study conducted by Credit Karma showed that more than two-thirds of Americans go through at least one noteworthy “credit fumble” before hitting 30 years old. And three-fourths of those in the study said credit mistakes could have been avoided if they had better or more financial education.

With statistics like these, it still baffles me that public education still puts eventual meaningless required courses ahead of important things like credit scores, loans, interest rates, taxes and so much more.

That being said, it’s vital to learn about finances, because three-fourths of the survey respondents said early financial mistakes affected their lives negatively later.

Why Does Your Credit Score Matter?

In short, the score attached to your name means a lot to lenders you want to get a loan from. It will also have a big impact on the interest rate on the loan. Credit.com categorizes credit scores into these brackets:

• Excellent: above 750
• Good: 700-749
• Fair: 650-699
• Bad: below 600

Clearly, you want to be in the 700s to get quality loans from lenders. If you’re below 700, you have your work cut out for you and it might be hard to acquire a loan or credit card.

How Are Credit Scores Calculated?

There are five major aspects that go into building your credit score. Being able to know what these are and how you can positively affect them is key if you’re trying to repair or maintain credit.

myFICO breaks the factors out into these sections:

• Payment history (35%)
• Amounts owed (30%)
• Length of credit history (15%)
• New credit (10%)
• Credit mix (10%)

How To Avoid Future Blunders

Let’s be clear – bringing up your credit score can be hard. Note: hard is different than impossible.

When putting the above percentages into play, it’s apparent the best thing you can do for your credit score is to make your payments on time – plain and simple.

The second most important factor is the amounted owed, or debt on the account. By carrying such a heavy weight on your credit score, you want to make sure to pay off your bill in full, or as much as you can, and on-time.

Conclusion

In the survey on Credit Karma mentioned previously in this post, you’ll see some of the biggest marks against scores include missed payments, overspending, and defaulting on a loan.

The best thing you can do if your previous mistakes were in those areas is to address issues in those areas first. Make payments in-full and on-time, and keep spending under control!

If you live in the tri-state area and have had trouble getting an auto loan, Helm Associates is here to help. Located in Bristol, PA, Helm has been helping people for over 25 years get driving in quality used cars and repair their credit. Give a call to 855-796-8400.