Managing personal finances can be a daunting task. A lot of people don’t know where to start.  It can feel overwhelming and even intimidating. As a result, many people struggle with keeping their credit scores in good standing. Credit scores can have a significant impact on an your financial life. It can affect your ability to secure loans, credit cards, an apartment or even employment. Fortunately, financial coaching can be an effective tool for improving your financial situation and your credit score. Let’s talk about how financial coaching can help you improve both your financial situation and your credit score.

First let’s talk about the metrics that go into a credit score.

• Your payment history (High Impact): Do you pay your debt on time?
• Your credit card use (High Impact): How much of your credit do you use compared to your limits? You want to keep this below 30% and preferable below 10%.
• Derogatory remarks (High Impact): Any collection, tax liens or bankruptcies?
• Credit Age (Medium Impact): How long have you had your accounts?
• Total Accounts (Low Impact): Have you had several different types of accounts (car loans, credit cards, mortgages) and managed them responsibly?
• Hard Inquiries (Low Impact): Have you applied for a lot of credit?  This may indicate a personal financial crisis is brewing.

     It’s a good idea to keep track of your credit score and address any discrepancies promptly. Watching your credit score may also help you find out about identity theft quickly and allow you to address it immediately to prevent damage to your credit. 

     There are several companies that you can use to track your credit score and some have additional services as well.  A free service that will track your TransUnion and Equifax score and alert you if there is a change in your score is creditkarma.com . Another free service is credit.com which will track your Experian score. Several credit card companies will track your FICO score at no additional charge as well. It’s worth it to see what other options are available and check out your credit report and score.

Now let’s talk about how Moola Masters can help you improve your credit score.

     We already mentioned that finances can feel daunting, overwhelming and intimidating for a lot of people. That’s because most Americans were never taught anything about financial literacy. To make matters worse, everyone seems to assume that we all understand finances. This can make it embarrassing to seek help and information about finances. The reality is 75-80% of Americans aren’t financially literate which means a lot of Americans find finances overwhelming.

     I am sure you noticed that the overarching theme for a good credit score is managing your debt well. This is where Moola Masters, and financial coaching, will help you improve your credit score. Moola Masters offers several resources providing information and tools to manage your finances and debt.

     The key to improving your credit score is creating a budget, a plan to pay down debt and realistic monthly financial goals. This is where Moola Masters excels. We provide a range of options including courses on financial goal setting and budgeting to get you started. We also offer a Financial Bootcamp that will show you how to budget, create goals and your own 5 year financial plan. Throughout the Bootcamp course, there are coaching calls to answer all your questions and keep you on track. Some of us have more complicated financial situations and for those people Moola Masters offers one-on-one financial coaching. We emphasize keeping it simple and give you the tools to make your plan easy to follow. All of these tools will help you manage your debt effectively and improve your credit score. Financial coaching provide the knowledge and the framework to improve your financial situation, your credit score and start you on the path to financial security. 

 Talk Soon!

Heidi