April Fool’s Day ushers in a new tax season and plenty of number-crunching, and it’s definitely not time to make foolish mistakes with your money. April is also National Financial Literacy Month which aims to raise awareness of healthy financial habits.
Americans can get a free copy of their credit report each year but this government mandated program only provides an infrequent snapshot of your credit status and doesn’t offer real-time updates to your credit score. But sure enough, technology is reshaping the age-old payments industry to give consumers better tools that allow them to keep tabs on their financial situation. It goes without saying that your credit score is vital data to potential lenders and some employers. And given that there’s persistent talk of the Fed raising rates later this year, a higher score can help keep your borrowing costs in check should you decide to make a major purchase such as a home or car. So it’s a good time to educate yourself since 70 percent of Americans believe that having good credit is the key to unlocking the “American Dream” according to the Capital One Credit Confidence Study. 1. Financial ignorance is not blissFortunately, millions of Americans are likely to see a boost in their credit scores due to changes mandated by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) that will leave out certain negative information, such as some tax liens and civil judgments, starting July 1st. An analysis by The Wall Street Journal estimates that nearly 12 million Americans could see a 40 point increase or more in their score. Secondly, credit score apps are helping smartphone users take key financial information with them on the go. For example, CreditWise from Capital One is a free credit score monitoring tool for everyone, not just customers. Capital One has already seen that millions of CreditWise users have improved their score by 20 points or more since the app launched nearly a year ago. Other major financial institutions such as Bank of America, Discover and Chase have also begun offering credit monitoring tools or services to help their customers. If you continually find ways to boost your score, you’ll likely save on your borrowing costs. Read Article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/5-ways-your-credit-score-impacts-your-life-without_us_58e17b19e4b03c2b30f6a7bf Comments are closed.
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