Credit Scores & Your Financial Health

So we hear a lot about this infamous score and how it can affect our future financial abilities – but what is it really, and how does it come about?

First of all, a credit score is an entirely different beast than a credit report. A credit report is a summary of your financial dealings, in some cases highlighting events in which your financial health may have taken a turn for the worse. Your credit score is the score that is calculated using a formula instituted by FICO, or the Fair Isaac Corporation, reflecting your financial health overall.

Credit scores can be used as an investigative resource for numerous aspects of our lives, including how we spend money, how we receive money, where we live, and even where we work. But don’t let this ever-growing list overwhelm you – instead, use it as motivation to improve. Improving your score is not nearly as complicated as the “score” itself, or what it’s used for.

What types of activities affect my score, you might ask? Well, anything that involves credit.

Who knew credit could be such a valiant word? Credit involves any exchange of goods or

services for a future payment, agreed upon by both parties. And every exchange is an opportunity to be a “game-changer” – and a way to SCORE!