Credit Scores and Meaningful Interpretation

I

imp

Senior Member
If any exists! My Discover Card began including my credit score along with the monthly billing some time ago. Today's included an extra wasted sheet of paper having my score history plotted on a chart for the past year! It wavers up and down by about 15 points, has a gap between 12/14 and 2/15. I had NO SCORE then??

Some organization or other is constantly seeking to provide us with our scores. Why, not sure. No two credit agencies ever agree on one individual's "risk" anyway. One person I talked to, sternly warned me I might lower my score by....blah, blah, etc. Told him, I have plenty of credit cards, a mortgage, and couldn't care less about my score!

So, do you know your score, do you work at "bolstering" it up? imp
 

Let's put it this way scores go to a maximum of of 850. Any score above 750 puts you in the excellent range. I am well up in that range.
 
imp said:
Some organization or other is constantly seeking to provide us with our scores. Why, not sure….imp
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I think your Discover Card is trying to do you both a favor so you can track any unauthorized activity. If you were to see a score you didn't think sounded right then it might be because your identity has been compromised and purchases made that you are unaware of.

By the way, I remember a long time ago when I had absolutely no debt and paid things off with cash, I had a terrible credit score. That's because they can't know if you're good about paying bills on time if you don't have any bills. So, I had to force myself to use a credit card once a month for gas to raise my score…and it worked lol. So a bad score doesn't always mean you're bad. And some companies don't remove a debt of your score once it's paid off…that's another reason it's good to check your account.
 
I monitor my credit with the free sites: creditkarma.com & credit.com. Transunion & Equifax are listed on creditkarma & Experian is listed on credit.com. Credit.com shows a grading system from A+ to F. I have 3 A+'s and 2 B's. I've had zero hard inquiries in 5 years giving me an A+, I also have A+'s in payment history and account mix. I've been working towards obtaining a ZERO FICO SCORE for 5 years now. I have no, zero, zilch credit cards, I've repeated this many times here and on other forums. No loans including mortgages, nothing. One of my B's is because I show no debt usage, the other is because of my credit age.

My FICO score is still good and I have recommendations every month that I could raise my score if I would have more recent installment loan history. At my age I couldn't care less about my score and have no immediate desire to raise it. It'll probably take the 7 1/2 years to reach 0 (or no credit history). The only reason I do monitor them is to make sure no one else is attempting to use it, I also watch for errors and keep my profile up to date but they sometimes drag their feet when showing my retirement and/or previous addresses.

My pension and SS are enough to live comfortably and I don't need the rewards or miles that everyone seems to be obsessed with. I don't fly and when and if I do vacation I travel in my motorhome. I don't coupon or spend too much time trying to find the cheapest price. My needs are few. A FICO score is almost as revered as how much you make so it's a private matter and I see no benefit to broadcast it.
 
Lara said:
I think your Discover Card is trying to do you both a favor so you can track any unauthorized activity. If you were to see a score you didn't think sounded right then it might be because your identity has been compromised and purchases made that you are unaware of.

By the way, I remember a long time ago when I had absolutely no debt and paid things off with cash, I had a terrible credit score. That's because they can't know if you're good about paying bills on time if you don't have any bills. So, I had to force myself to use a credit card once a month for gas to raise my score…and it worked lol. So a bad score doesn't always mean you're bad. And some companies don't remove a debt of your score once it's paid off…that's another reason it's good to check your account.
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Doggone, I never thought of that! Up in the clouds, I guess. A Good point. Especially for one whose identity has been used by a crook in another state, attempting to obtain an IRS refund fraudulently! Since then, two credit cards have been physically duplicated, believe it or not, the originals are in my wallet, one used to buy gasoline and McDonalds in Michigan, the other in Florida. Both banks called me to check verification of purchases, since they had authorized the "buys". No charge to me, and new account numbers issued.

My question would be, who, exactly, gets to "eat" the fraudulent purchases? McDonalds has gotten their money, the perp ate the "tainted" hamburgers, I got charged nothing, so is some big insurance company paying the bank (card issuer) for the loss, or does the bank "eat" it? Complex society today, ain't it? imp
 
"A FICO score is almost as revered as how much you make so it's a private matter and I see no benefit to broadcast it."

Son of Perd., in my case, I am considered indigent, by way of income level , have no income tax obligation, yet live pretty comfortably, as does my wife, whose own income is pitifully low for having worked all her life (S/S income), combined, below Federal poverty level.

My credit score (FICO) has remained over 800 for years, high 816, low 802, no idea why anyone would care. The banks THROW credit cards my way! imp
 
SOP, I too have a very high score (well into the 800's) and "Excellent" range. I agree with Lara's statement too, don't use credit, you won't get credit (except at usage interest rates). It's a tricky business. For younger folks, potential employers usually check your credit rating too as does the government when you apply for a security clearance.
 
AZ Jim said:
SOP, I too have a very high score (well into the 800's) and "Excellent" range. I agree with Lara's statement too, don't use credit, you won't get credit (except at usage interest rates). It's a tricky business. For younger folks, potential employers usually check your credit rating too as does the government when you apply for a security clearance.
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Jim, I should clarify my 'good' rating. I had a 745 prior to my retirement in 2009 and circumstances being what they were at that time I wanted to protect my wife's future. Sold our house, moved and made the decision to have her take responsibility of all our financial dealings. I have since dropped from the 745 to 680 with no negative entries. I read about the Zero Fico Score movement and decided I liked what I read, so my journey began. She is well taken care of and has the ways and means to weather my passing without any problems.
 
Son_of_Perdition said:
Jim, I should clarify my 'good' rating. I had a 745 prior to my retirement in 2009 and circumstances being what they were at that time I wanted to protect my wife's future. Sold our house, moved and made the decision to have her take responsibility of all our financial dealings. I have since dropped from the 745 to 680 with no negative entries. I read about the Zero Fico Score movement and decided I liked what I read, so my journey began. She is well taken care of and has the ways and means to weather my passing without any problems.
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Good deal. I am glad things are secure there. Take care...
 

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