# Secure Credit Check



## debodun (Dec 10, 2017)

How secure are those online sites that claim to give you your credit score for free? How much personal info do they ask?


----------



## Marie5656 (Dec 10, 2017)

*You will have to give your SS number. Probably birthdate, address and if you have gone by any other name.  Sometimes you get a multiple choice type question like "Have you ever lived in one of these cities.  With 4-5 chouces whith a city you have lived in included or a "none of the above" answer.*


----------



## nvtribefan (Dec 10, 2017)

debodun said:


> How secure are those online sites that claim to give you your credit score for free? How much personal info do they ask?



Try your bank.  They already have your data, and most banks provide them free to account holders.


----------



## dpwspringer (Dec 11, 2017)

I use a free site, credit karma. It was recommended in an article about freezing your credit. I like it, it gives a lot of useful info about your credit scores on Transunion and Equivax, it doesn't do the third one. You kind of have to trust somebody with your info... that's about the size of it.


----------



## retiredtraveler (Dec 11, 2017)

There is no such thing as absolute computer security. As everyone who watches or reads the news, major companies get hacked and of course, the biggest insult, Equifax itself getting hacked. I have stopped worrying about the issue from the perspective that I have a large, online presence, and my info is everywhere.
   I do have anti virus software, it gets checked for updates multiple times a day as myself or wife signs on, we do scans every day, I have a separate backup device and I back up the PC on a monthly basis. I keep abreast of latest threats and ways hackers try to get info. That's the best I can do.


----------



## Don M. (Dec 11, 2017)

By the time people reach their Senior years, Credit Score should be of little concern.  By the time people reach retirement age, they should be debt free....if they expect a decent lifestyle in retirement.  Anything other than monthly utility bills, and the necessary health/car/property insurance payments, etc., can have major impact on a person's ability to enjoy their retirement years. 

Anymore, many credit cards include a credit score on their monthly bills.  Discover shows our credit score bouncing between 815 and 825...and the last interest payment we made was sometime in the late 1980's.


----------



## SeaBreeze (Dec 11, 2017)

I get my credit score on my Discover bills also, always over 800, I think they have a free credit check on their website even for those who don't hold a Discover card.


----------



## JimW (Dec 11, 2017)

I use Credit Karma and love it. For a free service you get so much out of it. It's a credit monitoring service, not just a credit score report. Credit Karma gives you nice monthly breakdowns of all your bills, the payment history for each one and what to do to improve your credit. Credit Karma also helped me detect credit card fraud that I otherwise probably wouldn't have found out about without their service. I got an e-mail from Credit Karma about two months ago saying one of my accounts needed attention. I went on to their site to find that an old Capitol One credit card account that I had kept open for credit score purposes had a past due payment over 30 days and a handful of charges on it from the UK. I hadn't used the card in over seven years and whatever bill they sent out went to my previous address because I had since moved. Without Credit Karma, I wouldn't have known about these fraudulent charges until much later and my credit would have been damaged. Thankfully I was able to get the charges removed by Capitol One and was able to remove the past due payment history from Trans Union and Equifax within a month. Kinda crazy that my credit score dropped from 812 to 756 with just that one 30 day past due payment. But now I'm back up over 800. I did close that Capitol One acct and interestingly enough it cost me about a 10 points off my credit score because it had an available 20K limit that I wasn't using which helped boost my score.


----------



## Lethe200 (Dec 11, 2017)

At all times you have multiple credit scores, not just one.

The best way to secure your credit record is to freeze your account. Be aware the four credit rating agencies charge for this service (Equifax is currently waiving this due to their major screw-up). They also charge you for lifting the freeze when needed.

To say that retirees will never need to worry about their credit score is ignoring that many seniors do, in fact, carry debt into their senior years. We just bought a new car in May, so lifted the credit freeze for the 0% financing deal. Yes, we could have paid cash, but why bother? I'd rather pay a 0% loan back with depreciated dollars.

Be aware that your credit score can vary widely between not just the credit rating agencies, but also from bank to bank. Many companies use the Fair Isaacs Corp. score, but NOT ALL of them. Banks, for example, will pull your FI score but they will also rate you on their own internal credit scoring system. 

All credit scoring will vary from month to month depending on when the score is pulled, as it shows *last month's activity.* Thus, if you had $5K in charges in May, but paid the bill in full June 15th, a credit score pulled June 5th would show you owed $5K on that card.

HTH!


----------



## mathjak107 (Dec 11, 2017)

Don M. said:


> By the time people reach their Senior years, Credit Score should be of little concern.  By the time people reach retirement age, they should be debt free....if they expect a decent lifestyle in retirement.  Anything other than monthly utility bills, and the necessary health/car/property insurance payments, etc., can have major impact on a person's ability to enjoy their retirement years.
> 
> Anymore, many credit cards include a credit score on their monthly bills.  Discover shows our credit score bouncing between 815 and 825...and the last interest payment we made was sometime in the late 1980's.




why should someone be debt free just because they  are retired .at todays rates , i may very well take a mortgage in retirement if we buy next year . many seniors still have mortgages and auto loans today and rightfully so .

i rather tie up the banks money in the property at these rates .
 i just got a zero % auto loan .

this belief about having debt in retirement is nonsense . 

in fact it can be pretty sucky ending up house rich and cash poor in retirement .

you can't get that money out of the house if you need it . you have to pay to take loans  or sell it .  a reverse mortgage is still a loan . so basically having  money liquid and a mortgage may be a much safer deal

keep in mind what you pay for auto insurance ,  getting an apartment or accepted in a co-op , even getting a job if you want to work at something decent after you retire all may hinge on your credit report .


----------



## mathjak107 (Dec 11, 2017)

keep in mind the free scores from the credit cards are not comprehensive credit scores . amex -discover -citi are all fico 8 bank card  scores . they do not weight a lot of other types of  debt .  some go up to 900 not 850 and use a different scale . they are not comparable to a fico consumer score which counts a much wider range of debt .


----------



## debodun (Dec 11, 2017)

I've never had a credit card. Do I have a credit rating?


----------



## mathjak107 (Dec 11, 2017)

you will likely have a credit file . did you ever have a car loan , mortgage , etc ?  if not then you will likely come up no credit history found . not a good thing today .

you are judged by so many  , for all kinds of things based on your credit history .

there is a link between who you are as a person and how you are with money .  no answer is no answer so no credit history gives no insight for anyone looking to judge you for something linked .


----------



## Marie5656 (Dec 11, 2017)

SeaBreeze said:


> I get my credit score on my Discover bills also, always over 800, I think they have a free credit check on their website even for those who don't hold a Discover card.



Also, Discover will give you your score even if you are not a cardholder.


----------



## mathjak107 (Dec 11, 2017)

citi tells you specifically that they use fico 8 bank card scores and that the high score is 900. amex and discover tell you they use fico 8 bank card scores but do not disclose on their sites if it is calibrated to 900 or 850 .


----------



## mathjak107 (Dec 11, 2017)

the problem is that freezing your credit with the 3 consumer agencies still leaves you vulnerable to  anyone  taking commercial loans and credit cards .  commercial credit does not go through those agencies so you won't see it , nor will the freeze mean a thing ..

also checking credit with one of the 3 may not show a fraud . many non credit card  members like utilities do not report to all three .

years ago my wife had a fraud on her  report that was a utility . someone used her info then stiffed the utility .  it appeared only on 1 report , not the other 2 . we cleared it up but it took all kinds of documentation .

when that happens the utility has to have it removed , not the reporting agency


----------



## Aunt Bea (Dec 11, 2017)

I strongly disagree that being debt free is nonsense.

I understand that using OPM may make financial sense.

For me being debt free is a luxury that I've worked for and can afford.


----------



## mathjak107 (Dec 11, 2017)

there is good debt and bad debt and you can't make claims for both in one general statement . .


----------



## mathjak107 (Dec 11, 2017)

Don M. said:


> By the time people reach their Senior years, Credit Score should be of little concern. By the time people reach retirement age, they should be debt free....




being debt free is not nonsense .    the statement that retirees should all be debt free is nonsense . there is no broad based statement that can ever be made about  using " good debt " regardless of age .  there is "good debt" and then there is bad debt .. being bad debt free is a good thing , that is not nonsense !  but good debt is a whole other story . there most certainly is a use for good debt in retirement .

40% of those over 65 carry a mortgage  in the usa , many of them by choice .


----------



## debodun (Dec 12, 2017)

mathjak107 said:


> did you ever have a car loan , mortgage , etc ?



No to all. I pay cash for everything and keep a low financial profile.


----------



## Don M. (Dec 12, 2017)

mathjak107 said:


> being debt free is not nonsense .    the statement that retirees should all be debt free is nonsense . there is no broad based statement that can ever be made about  using " good debt " regardless of age .  there is "good debt" and then there is bad debt .. being bad debt free is a good thing , that is not nonsense !  but good debt is a whole other story . there most certainly is a use for good debt in retirement .40% of those over 65 carry a mortgage  in the usa , many of them by choice .



Just curious...What is Your definition of "Good Debt"???  And yes...40% of retirees are still stuck with a mortgage...and most of those 40% have little or no savings or investments.  The bulk of most retirees Net Worth is in their home equity, and most would not be able to write a check for a new car.  Then, if any unusual health expenses occur, they are soon broke.

https://www.fool.com/investing/gene...average-net-worth-by-age-how-do-you-comp.aspx


----------



## Butterfly (Dec 12, 2017)

Aunt Bea said:


> I strongly disagree that being debt free is nonsense.
> 
> I understand that using OPM may make financial sense.
> 
> For me being debt free is a luxury that I've worked for and can afford.



I also worked very hard to get my mortgage paid off before I retired.  I am very glad I did.  I did not want to enter retirement with long term debt hanging over me.


----------



## mathjak107 (Dec 13, 2017)

Don M. said:


> Just curious...What is Your definition of "Good Debt"???  And yes...40% of retirees are still stuck with a mortgage...and most of those 40% have little or no savings or investments.  The bulk of most retirees Net Worth is in their home equity, and most would not be able to write a check for a new car.  Then, if any unusual health expenses occur, they are soon broke.
> 
> https://www.fool.com/investing/gene...average-net-worth-by-age-how-do-you-comp.aspx



good debt is debt that is used to your advantage .  debt to invest  elsewhere , interest free  credit cards ,  zero interest auto loans  , even credit card rewards where you pay off the balance . we have a few thousand dollars in travel rewards  from our credit cards without 1 penny in interest ever .

in fact i borrowed money  to buy a partnership in a real estate  venture that was one of the most lucrative investments i ever made .

having a mortgage in retirement  can be good debt . it can  let you earn far greater than you pay out in interest . as rates rise even cd's will likely pay more than todays mortgage rates


----------



## mathjak107 (Dec 13, 2017)

Butterfly said:


> I also worked very hard to get my mortgage paid off before I retired.  I am very glad I did.  I did not want to enter retirement with long term debt hanging over me.




far to many retirees scramble to pay off that mortgage and leave themselves house rich and cash poor . they end up not being able to  spend the  the living room  for a large bill  and the money stays trapped in the house .

having  that money in liquid investments rather than the house can provide cash flow if you need it without having to take  on loans and interest at the worst time .  in fact many found in the 2008 great recession that their equity lines of credit were closed and they needed money .

so , yeah , there is nothing wrong with not having a mortgage in retirement but with most people having the majority of their wealth in their homes it may leave them in a less than desirable position. the idea of no mortgage in retirement may be comforting to the mind but financially it may not be  the best way to do things  nor is it really that comforting when push comes to shove and you have no access to that tied up money without selling . .

if we buy next year i will certainly try to get a mortgage  ,rather than tie up a few hundred thousand of my own invested money .

this year alone  the markets returned enough to pay cash if we wanted  to for that place we want to buy . i am so glad i  had our investments working for us to do that .

many retirees are not going to be investors , i get that . but most retirees will  likely  pump to much liquid cash in to the home trying to get it paid off leaving to much allocated in to the house . .


----------



## Aunt Bea (Dec 13, 2017)

IMO leveraging your assets is a very bad idea for the average retiree.

Not all investments and speculative ventures work out and when you are retired you don't get any do-overs so it's best to stay on rock solid ground with your finances.

Taking advantage of points on a rewards credit card is much different than taking on a long term debt for an investment.  

If a person has substantial assets that is a very different situation and the use of leverage can be a viable tool or option.

We each need to do what we feel is best for ourselves and our situation.

I prefer to sit on a rock and watch the world go by at this point in my life, LOL!!!


----------



## mathjak107 (Dec 13, 2017)

Aunt Bea said:


> IMO leveraging your assets is a very bad idea for the average retiree.
> 
> Not all investments and speculative ventures work out and when you are retired you don't get any do-overs so it's best to stay on rock solid ground with your finances.
> 
> ...




buying cd's eventually that pay more interest than your mortgage interest is not leveraging .  having  a diversified  portfolio and a return that over time surpass's your mortgage interest is not leveraging .

TAKING  ADVANTAGE OF CREDIT CARD REWARD POINTS IS TAKING ON LONG TERM DEBT ?????     NO ,,,IT IS GETTING A REBATE ON THINGS YOU BUY .

choosing whether to pay credit card interest is a separate situation from reward points . 

in fact we use the chase sapphire rewards card which offers tons of perks and value even though they charge a yearly fee .  we got over 2k in perks this year from the card . chase said they lost 300 million because of the perks and the fact the majority of card users pay no interest and pay it off .

demonstrating poor financial behavior is very different than whether to carry "good debt " or not .


----------



## dpwspringer (Dec 13, 2017)

I retired at age 50 and I would not have dared do that if I had any debt, like car loans, mortgage, personal loans, etc. I have seen too many times where the market, or whatever, burst and people that were trying to make a killing by being heavily in debt to get in on something, got killed financially.


----------



## mathjak107 (Dec 13, 2017)

dpwspringer said:


> I retired at age 50 and I would not have dared do that if I had any debt, like car loans, mortgage, personal loans, etc. I have seen too many times where the market, or whatever, burst and people that were trying to make a killing by being heavily in debt to get in on something, got killed financially.


buying on margin is always risky . but  that is not what i am referring to for retirees .

there is just easy long term money generally out there and even the fact cd's will likely surpass  mortgage rates .

safety is actually greater when you hold liquid assets than tied up in a home where it can't be accessed .

an interest free auto loan beats paying cash when you have a choice any day as well as at any age . 

after all , we are talking where you have choices , not where you are trying to buy things under funded .

you can actually play around in firecalc and do a what if scenario such as taking a mortgage vs using cash for all 117 30 year retirement time frames to date . the mortgage ALWAYS  left you with more money at the end  vs paying cash .

 .


----------



## Aunt Bea (Dec 13, 2017)

mathjak107 said:


> buying cd's eventually that pay more interest than your mortgage interest is not leveraging .  having  a diversified  portfolio and a return that over time surpass's your mortgage interest is not leveraging .
> 
> TAKING  ADVANTAGE OF CREDIT CARD REWARD POINTS IS TAKING ON LONG TERM DEBT ?????     NO ,,,IT IS GETTING A REBATE ON THINGS YOU BUY .
> 
> ...



I guess we need to disagree on this point.

At this late stage in my life the additional income is simply not worth the potential risks involved.

I have seen too many situations over the years where the cash and investments have slipped away while the debt sticks with people and sucks them dry.

Like I said we each need to do what we feel is best for ourselves and our situation.


----------



## mathjak107 (Dec 13, 2017)

on the other hand 2008 demonstrated what can happen when you have to much allocated to your home and not enough liquid assets .  so far to date , going back to the 1800's in this country , nooooooo  one ever lost any money over any typical long term accumulation period or 30 year retirement period  in diversified funds .

only their own poor investor behavior would have them losing money .
even at 65 there is long term money  that will not be used to eat for 20 to 30 years . that is still long term money . 

but again , i agree investing is not for everyone , but the reasons are different than the i don't want to see my money drift away , because quite frankly long term that never happened .

but what has happened far to often is avoiding markets and going fixed income only , has resulted in a poorly funded  or failed retirement .

more than half of the 117 30 year cycles failed using  just fixed income at 4% and required pay cuts to avoid running out of money .

a 50/50 mix failed 4% of the cycles and even 100% stock only failed 8% .so the real risk is avoiding investing in diversified funds . keeping the mortgage and doing your diversified investing with the money has always been the better choice financially . mentally is something else .

the problems some have is not markets but  come from poor investor behavior when they either panic ,  try to time things , speculate or use long term investments for short term needs .

my only gripe here is the statement about retiree's avoid debt as well as avoiding market volatility . that is just not a blanket statement that can be made across the board . you have to distinguish between good debt and bad debt as all debt is not the same effect . debt can be a good thing when it allows you  to have more than you pay out and long term investing in diversified funds  is not as risky as fixed income . it is just more volatile in the short  term but that means nothing on that portion of your money that is used to eat in 20-30 years . .
investing may not be something one has interest in doing  , and you much prefer no mortgage or auto loan  , but that does not mean it should serve as a rule for others .


----------



## Aunt Bea (Dec 13, 2017)

I hear what you are saying but not everyone has sufficient income and assets to power themselves over the rough spots in the market.  The 2008 collapse is a good case in point.  Some folks could have mortgaged their home to have enough liquid assets to survive the decline but if they did not have sufficient investments to reimburse them for the cash spent they would have come out of the decline with a mortgage and little or no cash to help pay it back.  I came through the 2008 decline in fine shape because I was fortunate enough to have sufficient cash to wait for the market to come back and sufficient investments to eventually replenish my cash reserves.  I get concerned over the people that read these threads and may not understand all of the factors that go into these decisions.  I would hate to see someone run out and mortgage their home because they heard it was the smart way to improve their cash flow and then end up with no cash and no home.

The fact is that when you are broke it doesn't really matter whether it's due to the performance of the market or poor investor behavior, you are still broke.

My avoidance of debt has to do with my own peace of mind more than anything else.


----------



## mathjak107 (Dec 13, 2017)

Aunt Bea said:


> I hear what you are saying but not everyone has sufficient income and assets to power themselves over the rough spots in the market.  The 2008 collapse is a good case in point.  Some folks could have mortgaged their home to have enough liquid assets to survive the decline but if they did not have sufficient investments to reimburse them for the cash spent they would have come out of the decline with a mortgage and little or no cash to help pay it back.  I came through the 2008 decline in fine shape because I was fortunate enough to have sufficient cash to wait for the market to come back and sufficient investments to eventually replenish my cash reserves.  I get concerned over the people that read these threads and may not understand all of the factors that go into these decisions.  I would hate to see someone run out and mortgage their home because they heard it was the smart way to improve their cash flow and then end up with no cash and no home.
> 
> The fact is that when you are broke it doesn't really matter whether it's due to the performance of the market or poor investor behavior, you are still broke.
> 
> My avoidance of debt has to do with my own peace of mind more than anything else.



A LOT OF MYTH ONCE AGAIN HERE .

it should only be the long term money that is invested not what you need to live on now . like i said you have money you will need to eat with in  20 to 30 years .  but even so , a typical 50/50 mix that hits a down turn would merely be rebalanced and stocks would never get sold AT A LOSS , the bonds would  be sold and rebalanced , perhaps buying stock as well as creating cash in a downturn . so this needing cash to get over rough spots has no logic to it .

in fact many retirees hold little cash . i hold 1 year for spending  and a small emergency fund .

a balanced portfolio is rebalanced  yearly to provide more cash .   in a down blast bonds generally go up and are what ends up being sold , not stocks .

this myth you see about having to sell stocks when markets are down is a lot of hooey and has no logic since it is the stocks that fell the most and bonds the least . most retirees are somewhere between 40-60% equity


----------



## Lethe200 (Dec 13, 2017)

mathjak107 said:


> the problem is that freezing your credit with the 3 consumer agencies still leaves you vulnerable to  anyone  taking commercial loans and credit cards .  commercial credit does not go through those agencies so you won't see it , nor will the freeze mean a thing ..



I'm not sure what you mean by commercial loans so I cannot address that. 

I can tell you that it is impossible to obtain even a gas credit card, let alone an auto loan, without my unlocking my credit report - because I have done both in the last year. 

I don't look for complete elimination of all risk in my life (probably my banking and insurance background, LOL). I look to MINIMIZE my risk profile in line with my financial needs. And in that, I feel I'm fairly successful at. 

But this is only my situation, not necessarily other's.


----------



## mathjak107 (Dec 13, 2017)

business who seek commercial lines of credit or loans are  put through the likes of dunn and bradstreet . i worked for an electrical wholesale . we would check business's who wanted open accounts through D&B . the 3 reporting agencies are used for consumer credit .

we know someone who had a 100k loan taken out in her name through a business loan with forged documents . it was all done through dunn & bradstreet reports .


----------



## OneEyedDiva (Dec 13, 2017)

How secure is anything online anymore? I trusted one, Credit Karma because I had heard and read good things about it. But I only used it once then didn't need it anymore because my credit card companies started offering free credit scores. If you're uncomfortable with giving too much information be aware that the credit bureaus Trans Union, Equifax and Experian are supposed to give one free credit report per year to individuals. If you stagger them (say one every four months), you can get three free reports per year. They will already have access to your SS number anyway.  Equifax was hacked a couple of months ago. Like I said...is anything secure anymore?


----------



## mathjak107 (Dec 14, 2017)

every fraud i ever experienced came  from sources other than doing things over the internet .

i had a debit card number and pin  stolen from within the banking  system .  i had our fidelity account info found on the dark web  , and my wife never logged in  with that info .


----------



## dpwspringer (Dec 14, 2017)

Aunt Bea said:


> I hear what you are saying but not everyone has sufficient income and assets to power themselves over the rough spots in the market.  The 2008 collapse is a good case in point.  Some folks could have mortgaged their home to have enough liquid assets to survive the decline but if they did not have sufficient investments to reimburse them for the cash spent they would have come out of the decline with a mortgage and little or no cash to help pay it back.  I came through the 2008 decline in fine shape because I was fortunate enough to have sufficient cash to wait for the market to come back and sufficient investments to eventually replenish my cash reserves.  I get concerned over the people that read these threads and may not understand all of the factors that go into these decisions.  I would hate to see someone run out and mortgage their home because they heard it was the smart way to improve their cash flow and then end up with no cash and no home.
> 
> The fact is that when you are broke it doesn't really matter whether it's due to the performance of the market or poor investor behavior, you are still broke.
> 
> My avoidance of debt has to do with my own peace of mind more than anything else.


I like the peace of mind of not having to worry about having to come up with a significant amount of money every month to make this loan payment and that loan payment. The old cash flow deal. I can tighten up and get by on not much of any cash flow if I need to and not worry about taking money out of this to cover that, etc. Some people may like that challenge, but I'm not one of them. I like to feel a little more secure.

Now that said, if they are offering car loans at 0% interest that is too good to pass up. It does cost anything, you can still have that pile of money on hand that you might have used to just pay for it, and it helps your credit rating (I think).


----------



## mathjak107 (Dec 14, 2017)

but the flip side is if you held the cash and didn't tie it up in the house by retiring the mortgage you still have the money you didn't use . . 

the above  has been an argument those who say they are retiring their mortgage earlier  try to present . but the reality is you just would be paying it with the money you did not drop in the house pocket and would have anyway  .

it is only a matter of switching pockets .


----------



## Lethe200 (Dec 28, 2017)

>> if they are offering car loans at 0% interest that is too good to pass up. It does cost anything, you can still have that pile of money on hand that you might have used to just pay for it, and it helps your credit rating (I think).>>

No, actually incurring more debt affects your utilization rate, which will lower your credit rating. Ours has dropped since 0% financing our new car in May 2017. No biggie, about 20 pts.


----------



## mathjak107 (Dec 28, 2017)

the drop may  happen with any loans but it depends on the score . there are 55 different fico scores that are industry specific . they all weight things differently .  the consumer score you see may be pretty different from what your lender sees anyway .. if your score is high who cares .  i will take loans that let me increase wealth any day of the week .


----------



## dpwspringer (Dec 29, 2017)

Lethe200 said:


> >> if they are offering car loans at 0% interest that is too good to pass up. It does cost anything, you can still have that pile of money on hand that you might have used to just pay for it, and it helps your credit rating (I think).>>
> 
> No, actually incurring more debt affects your utilization rate, which will lower your credit rating. Ours has dropped since 0% financing our new car in May 2017. No biggie, about 20 pts.


For various reasons I have 5 credit cards/store cards and my credit rating varies by about 30 points depending on how many have any balance on them when they run a check... it can be as little as $2 as far as I can tell. I thought having a non-mortgage loan in good standing generally improves your credit score, versus not having one? What I'm getting at is I'm not so sure financing your new car caused it to drop?


----------



## mathjak107 (Dec 29, 2017)

depends on which score you are looking at . is it a amex-citi or discover fico score ? they are not comprehensive credit scores they are bank card scores . the actual fico score used by a lender is not your consumer credit score either .there are 55 fico scores and all weight something different


----------



## Lethe200 (Dec 29, 2017)

mathjak107 said:


> depends on which score you are looking at . is it a amex-citi or discover fico score ? they are not comprehensive credit scores they are bank card scores . the actual fico score used by a lender is not your consumer credit score either .there are 55 fico scores and all weight something different



Yes, I know there are different FICO scores, as well as different specific lender scoring. The score I referred to is indeed a bank card FICO score, which I check maybe two or three times a year just to monitor credit usage.

We are not in the position to need to worry about our "actual" FICO scores (which change anyway, month to month). We are fortunate to be in excellent financial shape and are enjoying a good retirement where we can afford to do anything we want to.


----------



## Lethe200 (Dec 29, 2017)

>>I thought having a non-mortgage loan in good standing generally improves your credit score, versus not having one? What I'm getting at is I'm not so sure financing your new car caused it to drop?>>

As mathjak points out, different banks assign different weightings to the various factors that go into a given credit score. 

Although I don't normally spend a lot of time checking into my ever-changing FICO score as calculated by Barclays PLC, it so happens that I did check my score both before and after buying the car. This was because although we did have the ability to pay cash for the car, I chose to only withdraw half the amount I was willing to spend from our portfolio, and would withdraw the remainder next year (2018), to avoid incurring excess income tax.

So we intended to finance 50% of the cost, and I checked my score 'just in case'. When the car came in, the dealer offered us 0% financing so we put the minimum down and financed the rest.

We had done no traveling (where we charge just about everything) so the credit card bills were minimal that entire summer. When I checked my score again about 6 weeks later, it had dropped the 20 pts.

Like I said, no biggie.


----------



## mathjak107 (Dec 29, 2017)

barclay uses fico 8 (tu08)    . fico 8 is not a comprehensive fico score like you pay for . fico 8 is a bank card score . it weights credit cards very heavily and reduces or does not count other types of debt .some like citi use a high score of 900 not 850 too


----------

