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    Heather Yamada-HosleyKristin Wong
    8/10/16 10:25am

    Great article! I agree that being a “good” candidate overall (not just my high credit score) is probably what has helped me get rentals super quickly/easily in a city where the rental market is notoriously tough for renters.

    One situation where I think having excellent credit and being able to easily get a higher line of credit is useful is when I know my expenses may increase soon (like having a kid or moving to a more expensive city). That way, my credit utilization ratio can stay similar even as my costs increase, which helps keep my credit score “not bad”. :)

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      Kristin WongHeather Yamada-Hosley
      8/10/16 12:02pm

      I had a friend trying to navigate the LA market and I think she would’ve had a much more difficult time with bad credit. She had good credit, and she still got beat out by people and had a hard time finding a place. So like I said, good credit doesn’t guarantee anything, but bad credit most likely guarantees you won’t be considered.

      Yeah, I think I see where you’re going with the credit utilization thing. It helps maintain a good score. I do think it’s funny that the “perk” of a good score is having a good score.

      I guess the biggest perk of a good credit score is not having to deal with the cost of a bad credit score.

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      realinfmomKristin Wong
      8/10/16 12:56pm

      Someone I know is planning a move to LA and he’s in for a rude awakening. After years of insanely stupid financial decisions including one of those bad-news mortgages which he couldn’t make the payments on, he declared Chapter 7.

      If he thinks any California landlord will even take the time to spit on his application... yeah.

      He’s been told this, but he’s got it in his head that he can make so much more money in LA than in the midwest that it won’t matter. The fact that everything costs 3x here what it does there doesn’t enter into it.

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    UnreallysticKristin Wong
    8/10/16 8:34am

    Great read about something I hadn’t really thought about. I had piss poor credit leaving college and busted my tail to “git gud”. Once it got good, it just means I have confidence when applying for a credit card...but I’m TERRIFIED of getting a credit card because just them searching will lower my credit score. Then for instance one store that shall not be named for internet safety and identity theft reasons, gave me an $8k limit when I wanted a card to JUST finance about $1k worth of stuff. Went to their competitor to buy something else, got another card to finance the purchase, got a CC for another 5k, from the SAME CC company (paying is convienant though). So financing 2.5k worth of stuff has me with 13k of “open” credit over my head. Samethign happened with another place, they gave me like a 12k line, for a $120 purchase during the holidays.

    that’s fine and all on the surface, but if I go to make a REAL major purchase like a car or additional property to invest in, all the open credit is going to actually make me look BAD., especially since its not even active, it was just for financing certain purchases. It is such a game...

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      dont i know youUnreallystic
      8/10/16 8:42am

      And yet if you close those cards, it dings your score too. You can’t win, really.

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      HarryUnreallystic
      8/10/16 9:12am

      Wouldn’t all that open credit help your score? Assuming you’re not using it, your credit utilization % is going to be really low, which is good. The only thing it hurts is your age of credit, but that’s not a huge factor.

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    Liz WestonKristin Wong
    8/10/16 10:45am

    Consumer Reports found that credit scores could not only matter more than your driving record, but that having just a “good” score could cost you a couple hundred dollars more in premiums annually than having a score that’s considered “excellent.” http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/car-insura…

    Informa Research also tracks how much people pay for mortgages based on their credit score, and there can be significant differences between good, better and best. http://www.myfico.com/loancenter/mor…

    I agree that once your FICOs are in the mid-700s, there’s little point in stressing about getting them higher. But having not-bad-but-not-great scores can be costly, so it’s worth the effort to improve them.

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      Kristin WongLiz Weston
      8/10/16 11:56am

      “...a score that was considered just good would boost it by $233, even if they had a flawless driving record. A poor credit score could add $1,301 to their premium, on average.”

      This kinda proves my point, though. Bad credit has a much bigger impact than good/excellent credit does. Don’t get me wrong—I think it’s worth noting that having excellent credit could save you between $68-$526 per year, depending on where you live, per Consumer Reports. But the point is, poor credit is more likely cost you a lot more.

      As for the mortgage, I mention this in the post, too, but yes, my awesome credit did bring our rate down. The point is, it just didn’t matter because my partner’s mediocre credit trumped mine, and we went with an FHA with better terms, anyway. Of course, if we both had excellent credit, the story may have been different. The point is, the system is designed to safeguard against people with bad credit more than it’s aimed to help people with excellent credit. Which is fine, it just makes excellent credit a little less exciting.

      Like I said, you obviously want to improve your credit, but my overall point here is that building good credit is more of a defensive move. You want to have good credit mostly because having bad credit is a pain.

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      MJBuddy1Kristin Wong
      8/10/16 12:19pm

      Sure? But when the alternative to good credit is bad credit, good credit DOES matter.

      This article seems to throw out opportunity costs. Or it’s really meant to be about the huge diminishing returns to excellent credit/gaming credit. But it certainly reinforces that your credit score does matter.

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    Screw this unrelenting Kinja registration popupKristin Wong
    8/10/16 10:42am

    You missed one big aspect: employment. Having a good credit score has a tangible benefit when doing your background check for new employment. A low score (no matter the cause) is interpreted by many as saying you can’t manage money, which they believe reflects how you will be as an employee (either a responsible one, a trustworthy one, a good manager, etc). I know its bullshit... people end up with low credit scores for loads of reasons including bad health, tax issues, etc. But the fact is... it is a factor.

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      Kristin WongScrew this unrelenting Kinja registration popup
      8/10/16 11:21am

      Yes, it is a factor (and one I mention in the post). But the point is, a bad credit score matters much more in that case than an excellent credit score does. Again, a good credit score will not guarantee you get the job, but a bad credit score will most likely give the employer pause.

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    NYCAussieKristin Wong
    8/10/16 10:10am

    I guess the major perk of having excellent credit is that if you need to exhaust credit lines in an emergency, you can. It’s not really about what your score would be in the aftermath, but being able to get yourself through an immediate unexpected financial crisis if need be.

    Peace of mind in that regard is a pretty good perk!

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      Kristin WongNYCAussie
      8/10/16 11:34am

      That’s true. Of course, your credit drops when that happens, and I’d argue that people who have excellent credit are probably more likely to be financially prepared for an emergency, but I guess it’s nice to know that, should all else fail, I can max out some credit and I’ll be able to get by.

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    SuspiciousLookKristin Wong
    8/10/16 1:13pm

    Good credit = more likely financially responsible and just less stress in your life. Don’t discount that.

    Good credit = opportunity. Although yeah, good credit doesn’t get you that much better terms, it does open doors that would be closed. Especially in emergency or you just want to take that killer vacation. Good credit gives you choices.

    I see it as the old saying that money doesn’t make you happy, true, but money does give you choices, just like good credit does.

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      Kristin WongSuspiciousLook
      8/10/16 1:32pm

      Right, that’s kind of my whole point. Building good credit is important because it means not having to deal with the pain of bad credit. So I don’t discount that. In fact, that’s the whole point of the post. :)

      You do make a good point about choices—you have more opportunities to use credit when your score is high. I’d argue that people with excellent credit are probably less likely to have to rely on credit to fund an emergency or a vacation, though.

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      Not_a_TumorKristin Wong
      8/10/16 1:46pm

      Having a higher credit line does enable you to take a vacation though. I can’t even buy plane tickets for 2 with my credit card because my credit limit is so low. I have the cash in the bank but I’m not going to pay for plane tickets with cash. (Unfortunately they won’t raise my limit, even though my credit score is excellent, because of my salary)

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    bigbobsayssoKristin Wong
    8/10/16 8:32am

    I find it amusing how people with good credit take it for granted. Seriously... try surviving on even 100 points less. Watching my kids muddling through things has given me a lot to think about, and bad credit is one that matters everywhere. And be clear: bad credit is the same as no credit, is the same as “too low credit for X”. And don’t get me started on “ok” credit!

    Recently, my son tried to lease a car. The same car I got for my wife, coincidentally. Same dealer. Same agent in fact. I’m paying $220 a month. He got quoted $500, however if I sign as guarantor thereby leveraging my credit, he gets the same deal as my wife has (at the same cost). He doesn’t have a bad credit rating either - just very few accounts since, well, he’s young so still building up. He’s got a 690 score, which is actually impressive for both a new adult with literally two years of credit behind him (no missed payments, does what all the financial advisors tell you with lines of credit (low balance, pays on or before time, etc). The only thing is he insists on taking credit when needed, which is hurting him some.

    I have a friend that doesn’t believe in loans. Earns a decent six-figure income. Can’t get a loan on a 300k house because they don’t have lines of credit.

    Is something WRONG with credit in this country. Yes, hell yes. Is bad credit a problem? Yes. Is even “ok” credit a problem? Even more so, funny enough.

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      Kristin Wongbigbobsaysso
      8/10/16 11:25am

      I find it amusing how people with good credit take it for granted. Seriously... try surviving on even 100 points less.

      Right, that’s kind of the whole point of the article. Good credit is fine, bad credit makes your life difficult. So the point in building good credit isn’t to unlock a bunch of awesome benefits, it’s just to make sure your life isn’t difficult.

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      bigbobsayssoKristin Wong
      8/11/16 10:06am

      Hi Kristin,
      Not really the point I was making... in my example, my son actually has what experts call fair credit (620-680). Bad credit - according to credit.com, CreditKarma, etc - is below 600. So... I disagree. “Good enough” credit is simply not - you need GOOD or Excellent credit these days to get consideration.

      Here’s another thing that is going on right now - to get a home loan lenders are starting to expect good credit (above 700), AND little to no use of credit card evident in your history. I think that article was even reproduced here. Here’s the problem: to get credit in the first place you need to use it; credit cards are the most-often recommended way due to the way they work. BUT, here’s the kick in the groin: in order to keep the limit, you have to exercise the credit, AND that in turn reduces your credit. It’s a complete catch-22 if you’re new in the market.

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    NotRickJohnsonsBurnerKristin Wong
    8/10/16 10:14am

    The best “perk” of excellent credit is that if something bad happens ( e.g. you miss a few payments, have drastic income reduction, etc. ) you will fall into good credit instead of bad.

    It’s a buffer to avoid the crummy things you’ve mentioned happening to you when things go awry ( at least temporarily awry ).

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      Kristin WongNotRickJohnsonsBurner
      8/10/16 11:31am

      That’s actually a really good point. It’s still more of a defensive move than a perk, but it’s a good point nonetheless.

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    xenolKristin Wong
    8/10/16 10:07am

    There’s a trope for this: Do well, but not perfect.

    Though in my years being an adult, that seems like a common theme. Colleges won’t care as much if you don’t have a 4.0 GPA and didn’t do anything extra but will probably take the kid with a 3.0 GPA and was the class president, the team captain, and a community volunteer.

    Likewise jobs don’t care what your GPA was in college. They just care you did the relevant coursework. And that’s just the first job. After that college is just a footnote in your resume.

    ... Those are the two biggest things I can think of, but yeah. Perfection is a noble goal to strive for but most people don’t care if that makes you a one trick pony.

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    BrennanKristin Wong
    8/10/16 8:48am

    This was a very good read, Kristin. And I find that even credit that is “bleh” (not bad, not good) can get away with a lot. My credit score of 665 got me an FHA loan of 3.0% in 2012. As far as mortgage loans go, that’s as close to free money as you’re going to get. And yet, I didn’t even have a 700.

    I never miss a payment on anything. There was an error on my credit report where Transunion reported a late payment. It tore in to my credit significantly, and my other credit cards started decreasing my limits, even though I hadn’t actually missed anything. It was such a hassle to get the error removed from my report, but the damage had already been done.

    These credit scores seem to serve one purpose: to kick you while you’re down.

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