The importance of monitoring your credit score

As busy dental students, our credit score is the last thing we want to think about, but it is never too early to start building your credit. Building my credit score and maximizing credit card spending rewards are two of my hobbies. In my downtime, I like to check my credit scores and online bank statements, as well as read financial articles. Earlier this year, the method in calculating credit scores was changed. The new scoring system is being implemented by a company called VantageScore, which was created by Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. These changes could affect your credit score overall, whether you have good or bad credit. But how is your score calculated in the first place? Here are some factors that impact your credit score.

What goes into your credit score?

credit scoreAs a follow-up to last month’s Money Monday post about credit card myths, we will focus on the topic of credit scores. We last discussed this back in 2013 so it is time for a re-visit! Last month, we mentioned that utilization, or your statement balance as a percentage of your total available credit, is one element of your credit score. What are the other elements and why are they important?