Credit Scores — Your Financial Reputation

A credit score is a number (300–850) that tells lenders how risky you are to lend to. Higher is better.

FICO Score factors:

35% — Payment history (most important — never miss a payment)

30% — Credit utilization (keep below 30%, ideally below 10%)

15% — Length of credit history (older accounts help)

10% — Credit mix (cards, loans, mortgage)

10% — New credit inquiries (hard inquiries from applications)

Score ranges:

800–850: Exceptional

740–799: Very Good

670–739: Good

580–669: Fair

Below 580: Poor

Why it matters:

Mortgage: 740+ gets best rates. 620 might barely qualify. A 1% rate difference on a $300,000 mortgage = $60,000+ extra over 30 years.

Also affects: car loans, apartments, insurance, and sometimes jobs.

Free credit monitoring: Check your report for free at AnnualCreditReport.com (federally required). Credit Karma and Credit Sesame offer free ongoing monitoring.

Reference:

Wikipedia: Credit Score

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_score