{"id":209,"date":"2017-05-12T00:53:32","date_gmt":"2017-05-12T06:53:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/a0109a0e50.nxcli.io\/\/is-it-a-good-idea-to-close-credit-cards-i-dont-use\/"},"modified":"2021-06-23T15:04:27","modified_gmt":"2021-06-23T21:04:27","slug":"es-una-buena-idea-cerrar-las-tarjetas-de-credito-que-no-uso","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.savvyladies.org\/es\/education\/is-it-a-good-idea-to-close-credit-cards-i-dont-use\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00bfEs una buena idea cerrar tarjetas de cr\u00e9dito que no uso?"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Rebecca Eve Selkowe, J.D<\/strong><\/p>\n

3 myths about your credit score:<\/h2>\n

I never really talked much about credit scores before, but that is starting to change now as I\u2019m realizing how much unnecessary worry, concern, and confusion swirls around them.<\/p>\n

So first things first. Your credit score is one credit bureau\u2019s opinion of how likely you are to be able to repay the money you borrow.<\/p>\n

Annnd\u2026 we\u2019re done here!<\/em><\/p>\n

[drops mic.]<\/p>\n

Heh.<\/em><\/p>\n

Of course, there\u2019s a lot<\/em> more to it than that \u2013 what factors go into it, what it means, how to have a good one \u2013 and based on what I hear from my very smart, very educated clients, a lot of mystery, too!  Here are the top three myths about your credit score, debunked.<\/p>\n

Myth #1: If I never use my credit card, I\u2019ll have good credit.<\/strong> WRONG. Your credit score is based on large part on how good you are with credit.  If you don\u2019t actually use<\/em> credit, no one will know if you\u2019re good at it.  So if you don\u2019t use a credit card, you won\u2019t have bad<\/em> credit, but your score definitely won\u2019t be as high as it could (and, if you\u2019re financially responsible enough to respect credit cards enough to fear them, as high as it should<\/em>) probably be.<\/p>\n

Myth #2: I should close any credit cards I don\u2019t use.<\/strong> I hear this all the time. I scream \u201cNOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!\u201d and start lifting things up and smashing them.  Okay I don\u2019t really<\/em> do this\u2026 but I want to.  Unlike in, ahem<\/em>, other areas of our lives, when it comes to your credit score, size matters! Your score is based on part on how much credit you have available to you AND on the length of your credit history (how long you\u2019ve been using a particular account). Closing cards reduces the amount of credit you have.  Closing your oldest card shortens your credit history.  New accounts, bad.  Old accounts, good.  HULK SMASH!<\/p>\n

Myth #3: My credit score is the same as my credit report. <\/strong> NOPE.  Your score is BASED on your report.  You can get your credit report for free each year, but it will not include your credit score.  You definitely want to make sure you\u2019re on top of that report to make sure everything in it is accurate.  You can get your score for free, too, but you may have to do some finagling.  Your score is useful, but the report is even more<\/em> useful.<\/p>\n

There you go. Three myths about your credit score. Pop quiz next week! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

If you have your head buried in the sand about YOUR credit score, it\u2019s time to get it out. Good, bad, ugly, you have to know that number.  You may be surprised, you may be devastated, but you know that saying \u201cstart where you are?\u201d  That\u2019s you and your credit score.<\/p>\n

So go check it.<\/p>\n

Did these surprise you? Did you know these already? Are you all, tell me something I don\u2019t know? What other questions did this raise for you?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Rebecca Eve Selkowe, J.D 3 myths about your credit score: I never really talked much about credit scores before, but that is starting to change now as I\u2019m realizing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"give_campaign_id":0,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":"","_tec_slr_enabled":"","_tec_slr_layout":""},"categories":[1,76],"tags":[74,148,166],"class_list":["post-209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-debt-management","tag-credit-cards","tag-credit-score","tag-newsletter-article"],"acf":[],"ticketed":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.savvyladies.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.savvyladies.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.savvyladies.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.savvyladies.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.savvyladies.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.savvyladies.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.savvyladies.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.savvyladies.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.savvyladies.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209"}],"curies":[{"name":"gracias","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}