The most fraudulent belief I’ve been hearing for over 15 years is “I have excellent credit, I pay all my bills off in full every month!” This is a false belief for one to buy into and understanding your debt to credit ratio holds the key to getting your “credit mindset” right.
Your debt to credit ratio is your ratio of debt to total available credit you
have been extended (revolving accounts only). For example. If you have $10,000 in total unsecured revolving credit accounts and you’re currently in debt $2500, then your debt to credit ratio is 25%. Since the main way lenders make money is by charging interest, one of the elements of the credit scoring model is driven by your ability to maintain balances and pay over time. This shows your true (long term) credit worthiness which is most profitable to lenders since they make money primarily via interest and not annual fees.
Over the years we’ve discovered without question that carrying the proper debt to credit ratio will boost your score faster than paying off your bills in full each month. I have argued with the Better Business Bureau on this topic and they still disagree (despite my sending them proof from Fair Isaacs own website www.MyFico.com the organization which invented the credit scoring software used by credit bureaus).
Of course, what do you do if you’re like most Americans and your debt to credit ratio is too high? For example. You have $10,000 in unsecured revolving accounts but you owe $8500, thereby giving you an 85% debt to credit ratio. How can you bring it down without selling everything you own? The answer is simple and takes us to the next technique which is…
Your debt to credit ratio is your ratio of debt to total available credit you
have been extended (revolving accounts only). For example. If you have $10,000 in total unsecured revolving credit accounts and you’re currently in debt $2500, then your debt to credit ratio is 25%. Since the main way lenders make money is by charging interest, one of the elements of the credit scoring model is driven by your ability to maintain balances and pay over time. This shows your true (long term) credit worthiness which is most profitable to lenders since they make money primarily via interest and not annual fees.
Over the years we’ve discovered without question that carrying the proper debt to credit ratio will boost your score faster than paying off your bills in full each month. I have argued with the Better Business Bureau on this topic and they still disagree (despite my sending them proof from Fair Isaacs own website www.MyFico.com the organization which invented the credit scoring software used by credit bureaus).
Of course, what do you do if you’re like most Americans and your debt to credit ratio is too high? For example. You have $10,000 in unsecured revolving accounts but you owe $8500, thereby giving you an 85% debt to credit ratio. How can you bring it down without selling everything you own? The answer is simple and takes us to the next technique which is…
