At 35 I Have a Near Perfect Credit Score. Here Is My Playbook.

Flywheel Publishing has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Flywheel Publishing and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.

You probably find yourself checking your balance in your savings or checking account pretty often. But do you check your credit score nearly as often? Probably not.

The truth is that many of us don’t bother to think about our credit scores until we’re ready to sign a loan or open a new credit card. But it’s important to know what goes into a credit score, since the higher yours is, the more likely you are to get approved the next time you ask to borrow money.

And it’s not just that. A strong credit score could set you up with better interest rates, making your next loan cheaper to sign.

In this Reddit post, we have a 35-year-old with an excellent credit score who shares some of their secrets. And they’re worth listening to.

Know what goes into your credit score

A lot of people are in the dark about how credit scores are calculated. But you shouldn’t be. Having that information could help you make smart financial decision that lead to a better score.

The factor that carries the most weight in your credit score is your payment history. Being late paying debts could cause serious damage to your score, while being on time could help it improve.

The next most important factor in calculating your credit score is your credit usage. Keeping your credit card balances low relative to your total credit limit is good for your score, while maxing out your credit cards could cause damage (not to mention drain your bank account).

From there, other important factors in your credit score calculation include the length of your credit history, the type of credit accounts you have, and the number of new loans or credit cards you’ve opened recently.

A formula for success

Let’s get back to the Reddit post above to see what the poster did right. Their credit score is around a 790, which is pretty impressive.

Credit scores range from a low of 300 to a high of 850. Most consumers do not have perfect credit, and a score in the upper 700s or higher is generally considered excellent.

The poster here says they’ve never missed a loan or bill payment in their life. That has no doubt contributed to a strong payment history, which helps explain why their credit score is so high.

The poster also does something both interesting and impressive with their credit cards — they pay off their balances weekly, and sometimes even more frequently. That way, they don’t accrue interest on their balances, but they do get the points.

Again, keeping credit card balances low is a great way to maintain solid credit. But you don’t necessarily have to pay your balances down as often as this poster does. There’s nothing wrong with paying your cards off once a month when your bills are due.

All told, the more you know about what goes into a credit score, the better a position you’ll be in to keep yours in great shape or boost yours if it could use work. It’s also a good idea to stick to a budget so you don’t end up spending more than you can afford. That could, in turn, help you avoid late payments and help you steer clear of larger credit card balances that cause your credit score unwanted damage.

Flywheel Publishing has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Flywheel Publishing and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.

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