Beauty Secrets of Credit Score Stars [Fool.com: Motley Fool Take] May 6, 2005

I have two minds about the Motley Fool - on the one hand, they have excellent info on personal finance matters. On the other, they often miss the mark on stock picks, since they don't seem to believe in market efficiency. Here's a great example 0f the first set of articles. This short piece on credit scores lists some of the major factors that affect them (I know, I've posted a lot on the topic, but it's important). As usual, it's written with the layman in mind. Here are the characteristics of the absolute highest credit scores:

• Between four and six revolving accounts (meaning credit cards).
• At least one "installment" tradeline (e.g., a mortgage or auto loan) in good standing.
• A few accounts around 20 years old with a long history of positive use. (To get into the 800 range, you need 10 years of positive account history.)
• Around 30 years of credit use.
• No late payments (or other account blunders) for at least the past seven years.
• Very few credit inquiries (no more than one to three in a six-month period).
• No derogatory notations -- collections, bankruptcies, or bad accessorizing. (Just kidding on that last one.)
• Debt levels on credit accounts of less than 35% of their overall credit limit.

Click here for the whole thing. The article also lists a number of steps to take if you want to shine up your credit score.


Beauty Secrets of Credit Score Stars [Fool.com: Motley Fool Take] May 6, 2005: "Beauty is only skin deep. Particularly to your banker, who knows that it's what's in your credit file that really matters."