Related Links

Featured Links





Recommended Products



 

 
Featured Articles

A Secured Loan Could Save You Money
What is a Secured Loan? A secured loan is any loan that is secured on your home or property. It is any loan which requires you to provide the lender with some form of security other than just a promise to pay. The security will be your property or home. ...

I Want My Money Back
No matter what you do, there will come a time when a customer will ask for a refund for some reason or another. Do you give it to them? That depends. If you have an unconditional money back guarantee, there's no question. Refund the money -- no questions ...

Making Money Online
Making money from home on the internet is easy... if you know how! We would all love to give up our day jobs and start earning a comfortable living from from the internet in our own homes, Imagine more time with your family, a nicer car, larger house or ...


Google
Save Time, Money, and Frustration: Get the Right Credit Score
 
credit reports and you know what your credit scores are--you even got one score from each of the three major credit bureaus: Equifax. Experian, and TransUnion. You are shocked when your loan is denied, or maybe you were approved, but the interest rate is much higher than you anticipated. How can that be you say? My credit score is good, I know I checked. Maybe it's not as good as you think. It all depends on there you got it and what kind of credit score it is.
The fact is there are several different credit scoring methods. Credit scores calculated from the same credit reports can differ substantially from credit scoring method to credit scoring method. So how can you ever know what your credit score really is? Well, luckily, 75% percent of lenders use FICO scores exclusively and you can purchase FICO scores yourself--you just have to know where to go. (www.myfico.com)
FICO credit scoring is a numeric method of scoring your credit worthiness developed by Fair Isaac and Company. Your credit score is a number between 300 and 850 that tells creditors how likely you are to pay your bills. The higher the number, the better it looks to potential lenders and creditors.
The three major credit bureaus each have their own version of the FICO score: Equifax uses the Beacon system, TransUnion uses the Empirica system, and Experian uses the Experian/Fair Isaac system. Despite each credit bureaus' use of their own versions, all systems are based the original Fair Isaac FICO scoring method, so each credit score calculated with these systems are generally called FICO scores. However, although most lenders do use FICO scoring, some lenders may have their own scoring methods.
There


is only one place where you can get your FICO score from all three bureaus and that is at www.myfico.com. If you order your credit score from anywhere else, again be aware that these scores are "FAKOs" (or "fake") and can differ considerably from your FICO credit scores.
Adding to the confusion is the credit bureaus themselves. Recently, Experian revealed that the national average credit score of its consumers is 678. This is very misleading to the average consumer. When you buy your credit report and score directly from Experians website, you are getting what they call the "PLUS Score," which is NOT a FICO score, and is NOT used by lenders anywhere. (Equifax is the exception--you can buy your FICO score directly from them at their website; however, the only place to get all three scores together is at www.myfico.com.) The 678 PLUS Score reported by Experian is actually the average of consumers' PLUS Scores, not their FICO Scores.
Clearly, the PLUS Score (and all Non-FICO scores) are useless. Not only that, but such hype misleads consumers into purchasing their PLUS Score thinking that they are getting the same credit score that their lender will use. Non-FICO scores are worthless not matter what the credit bureaus or any website selling non-FICO scores claim. Even a few points difference in your credit score can mean confronting the reality of the loss of thousands of dollars out of your pocket--a loss that you probably didn't plan for. The next time you want the most accurate credit score available, do yourself a favor and get the industry standard: the FICO credit score.
© 2005 Courtesy of The Found Here Network. Find Credit Reports Online
About the Author
© 2005 Courtesy of The Found Here Network. Find Credit Reports Online

News



Newsday

Money Fund Make-Over
Wall Street Journal
Mary Schapiro, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, is about to start a fight worth having with the providers of money-market mutual funds. Specifically, she aims to prevent a taxpayer bailout the next time this $2.7 trillion market runs ...
Money-market funds not bank accountsThe Australian
U.S., money funds are clashingPhiladelphia Inquirer
Regulation Worries Roil Money-Market IndustryBarron's
Newsday
all 51 news articles »

The Associated Press

RI city takes on Brown U. in town-gown money clash
The Associated Press
After revising its PILOT guidelines last year, the city of Boston extracted more money from its tax-exempts — nearly 25 percent more during the first half of this fiscal year, or 88 percent of what it sought, according to the city.

and more »

NH launches online money management game
Boston.com
By Holly Ramer AP / February 12, 2012 Concord, NH—Household budgeting may not sound fun, but a new online program in New Hampshire is trying to make learning about it more enjoyable. The US Treasury Department recently awarded grants to five states to ...

and more »

Atlanta Journal Constitution

For Gingrich, Choice Between Wooing Voters or Donors
New York Times
Mr. Perry asked his top financial rainmakers to raise money for Mr. Gingrich, telling the group, according to one participant, that he fully supported the former House speaker. But the likelihood that Mr. Gingrich will reap a financial windfall from ...
Day after Maine win, Romney looks to money raceAtlanta Journal Constitution
Money, machine, but no messageBoston Globe
From the go, roller-coaster GOP White House raceBoston.com
Huffington Post -CNN (blog)
all 5,042 news articles »

Lionsgate reaps big money from digital distribution of shows
Reuters
Licensing deals for the studio's television programming, particularly the licensing of the first five seasons of "Weeds" to digital platforms, kept the money flowing over the three-month period. Vancouver-based Lionsgate has licensing deals with ...

and more »