Checking your credit report is one of those tasks that’s important to do regularly. If you don’t check your credit report, you run the risk of not catching it if someone steals your identity. That’s reason enough to check it right there. You may also end up being charged higher interest rates for things than you might otherwise receive if there are incorrect items on your report.
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You may have “improve credit score” as one of the items on your financial to-do list for the year, but that’s not always a goal worth actively pursuing. » Read more

Credit scores can be confusing — and for good reason. Here’s a reader question that illustrates exactly that:

I’ve always had “excellent” credit. Last Friday I bought a new car, and in the financing process it came up only “fair” — nearly 100 points below what I expected. Naturally, the interest rate on my new car was not as good as I thought it would be. But today, my quarterly credit report (which I get through American Express) came in the mail, and the rating from all three credit bureaus was “excellent”, in the range I expected. » Read more