Re: How Much Is A Credit Score (FICO) Worth?

Daniel T. wrote:
> Don't bother buying your credit score. When it comes time to make a 
> loan, just about any lender you can name will tell you what your score 
> is when they check it. 

OP is buying a home in 4 years. Getting the score then will be too late.

> Without a loan since 1995, you are what the car industry (and possibly 
> others) calls a "ghost". You have no FICO because there isn't enough 
> data to determine it. 

No FICO? You are sure of this how? My credit re****t shows accounts 
closed up to ten years ago, so it depends what kind of loan that was, 
paid off may not mean the account was closed, too.

> So, when you ask how much a (good) FICO is worth, the cost you should be

> referring to is the cost of maintaining some debt so that there will be 
> data for the FICO system to work with. If you want an easy time of it 
> when you are ready to buy that house in four years, you should borrow 
> some money now (a credit card maybe?), and make minimum payments, but 
> always on time, for the next four years, then pay the loan off before 
> buying the house. So a good FICO will cost you five to ten thousand 
> dollars over the course of then next four years, and all it will get you

> is less hassle when it comes time to buy that house.

$5-$10K?? Minimum payments? I maintain the $8 may be money well wasted, 
but paying that kind interest is over the top. Only OP knows what his 
re****t shows. If he has no active accounts, so a pretty empty credit 
file, and if that reflects in a poor FICO, he can open one card, maybe 
through his regular bank, and make purchases each month, paying in full 
every month. No need whatsoever to pay the interest. In fact, when you 
see my credit re****t, for a certain card it shows balance $5K, past due 
$0, terms $84/mo. The balance is a monthly snapshot, not an indication 
that credit is carried month to month.

Joe
www.blog.joetaxpayer.com

--------------------------------------
Misc.invest.financial-plan is a moderated newsgroup where Moderators
strive
to keep the conversations on-topic for financial planning. Other posting
guidelines include a request for brevity and another for trimming posts to
which we respond.  For all of the other tips and suggestions, see "FROM
THE
MODERATORS: Posting to misc.invest.financial-plan", a weekly post now on
the
Newsgroup.