Here are just a few pointers about personal credit and how to stay on top of it. Basically, you want to have the highest score as possible. This is only very crucial when applying for a mortgage and car loans. Anything over 700 is great. The following is how to get it there and keep it there:

1. Have AT LEAST 4 solid trade lines on you credit report. ‘Solid’ meaning ones that you’ve never been late on, each with a 24 month history. Also, these should be SECURED credit cards, utilities, car loans, mortgages, or student loans (that you are paying back, not ones that are deffered).
2. Credit cards are a good thing!! They give you discounts at many merchants and cash back on food gas and drugstores!! Most with NO fees and low rates (at least introductory). As long as you make timely monthly payments and can control your spending, they will help you graciously with building a good credit and getting the best credit score possible.
3. When choosing a credit card, be sure to get a SECURED one. Meaning, one from a bank (ex. Citibank, MBNA, Capital One, etc). These look GOOD on your credit report, as long as you maintain good account standing. Choose one that has the best deal. Nowadays, you can get them with NO annual fee, 0% interest, and even up to 5% cash back plus points, rewards and special discounts. ***If you are a student with no established credit, Citibank has a Student Credit card that you can get that they basically give on good faith. You have to be enrolled in a college or university and it’ll only be about a $500 limit, but it’s a GREAT start.
4. As tempting as that Bloomingdales Charge card is, don’t open it! Do not open ANY store charges, or ‘unsecured’ credit lines. These will hurt your credit rating, no matter if you use them and pay them every month (which you probably wont anyway), solely because they are UNSECURED, there is no guarantee to the creditor that you will repay the credit granted (versus a car loan or a mortgage or bank card where there is substantial collateral). Plus, you can get better benefits with a secured credit card anyway.
5. CHECK YOUR CREDIT REPORT YOURSELF! There are only a few independent websites authorized by the FTC to generate credit reports free of charge. You can also use the actual credit bureau’s website to access your report, or through an accredited source (normally credit card companies will offer some sort or ‘identity monitor’ service that will let you check and monitor your credit report in conjunction with one of the credit reporting agencies). It important to make sure that everything on your credit report is true and in fact credit that you yourself have obtained and applied for. If not, take the corrective measures to protect yourself (such information will be posted wherever you obtain your credit report). Be sure to check EVERYTHING on the report, not just the credit cards and loans. There is also employment information, address information and personal data on each and every report. **See RESOURCES PAGE for links
6. When buying a house or a car, be careful when shopping- make sure not to shop your financing, or else you wont get as good of a rate as you might have hoped. This is how it works; every time your credit is pulled by CREDITORS, it puts an inquiry on your report (which CAN NOT be removed). The more inquiries that you have on your report in a certain period of time, the lower your score will go. This happens because if a lot of creditors are pulling your report, it appears that you are trying to get lots of credit that is not being granted, for one reason or another, which makes you a higher risk, which lowers your score. Now, normally, this isn’t most of our intentions, we can bitch and complain all we want, but it’s just the way it is.
7. Be aware that there are 3 Credit Bureaus- each develop their own scores for you according to your credit profile. Each will not give you the same score, however they should be with in 10- 20 points of each other. Generally, there is no need to check you credit profile from EACH bureau when monitoring your credit, however, when you apply for a mortgage, the mortgage company WILL pull a report called a ‘Tri-merge’ credit report. This report will show ALL credit information from each of the 3 bureaus. Ask your mortgage broker for a copy of the report (if they wont provide it, ask them to recite all the information on the report, and then they will send it to you) and then you can clearly see if there are discrepancies in you credit reporting from one bureau to the next. Like I said, if there is more than a 10-20 point difference from one bureau to the next, check the information they are reporting and take corrective measures if necessary.

For links to where you can receive your free credit report, see my RESOURCES page.

Nowadays, not only do more and more people NOT save, they wouldn’t even know where to put money if they have it. (By this I mean it either sits under their bed or in their checking account, neither of which does them any good). I did some research and with today’s technology (and of course GOOGLE), it’s easier to save now more than ever.

Lots of banks now are utilizing the internet to their advantage, and able to cut a lot of costs that are involved in maintaining physical institutions and accounts by doing so. Now many of these financial institutions offer ‘online banking’ which used to be to strictly monitor your accounts and check balances, but now has evolved into opening accounts, paying bills, and transferring money from one institution to another. With the cost advantages of using strictly the internet and the natural pull for more business, such banks can offer excellent rates that haven’t been around for almost 8 years!

The best rate that I found for a regular SAVINGS account is with EMIGRANT DIRECT. Right now they are offering 5.15% APY on their savings accounts. Other great rates I found at:

As a real estate investor myself, and also a mortgage banker, I’ve been on both sides of ‘the table’ and have seen many times more than none, that things go wrong solely because people not informed. It got to the point where i need to start saying something and getting people informed. So as i said before, welcome to Philly Finance.com!!

Check back soon for information and tips that wil keep you on top of your finances, and possibly your CAREER!