It’s never too early to start building your personal credit score.Young people should always remember that good personal credit is within your reach. However understanding what goes into these important benchmarks helps. Here’s five tips for younger people that will help them.
Open a bank account
Opening either a checking or savings account will help you establish a personal credit score. It’s a good idea to put the money away that you use to pay bills in the checking account. Savings accounts can be more for investments.
Apply for a credit card
One of the big steps in establishing personal credit is showing that you can be responsible with it. Applying for a credit card is a good idea. Keep in mind that you need to have a steady income. If you’re looking to establish good credit, it’s important to buy only the things that you have the money to pay for.
Become an authorized user
If you don’t think it’s time to get your own credit card, you can become an authorized user on someone else’s. This is an excellent way to establish personal credit and build up your FICO score at the same time. Make sure that any authorized user activity is reported to the credit bureaus first.
Apply for a car loan
This is a big step you need to think over carefully. If you apply for a car loan, you’ll be establishing a personal credit history. However, you need to make interest payments on the loan and factor that into your finances.
Check your personal credit reports for accuracy
As you start building up your credit score, it’s a good idea to check its accuracy from time to time. If you check through the various credit card companies, you can find ones that offer monthly credit scores. It’s a good idea to make sure all the information on your personal credit score is accurate.