Another Look at Your FICO Credit Score

In addition to getting your free annual credit report, it’s worth getting your FICO credit score from time to time as well. You have to pay to get the score, but the fee you’re going to pay is typically going to be in the area of $10 to $20. Your credit score tells a lot about you, but more importantly it tells a lot about how creditors are going to see you.
You need to understand a few things about credit cores first. Your score is a number from 300 to 850. The lower the score, the less creditworthy lenders will believe you to be. A high credit score doesn’t guarantee you’ll be approved for a loan, such as an unsecured personal loan, and a low credit score doesn’t mean you can’t get any credit. In general, however, the higher your score, the better off you are.
Here are some general guidelines, based on your score:

• FICO score of 700 or above. This means you have Excellent or Very Good credit. You might get a better rate if you have more than 720 or 740, but in general at 700 you’re going to get a decent rate on your personal loans.
• FICO score of 680 to 699. If you fall in this range, you can get a normal loan. This is considered average credit. You’re not at the top of the list, but you’re not at the bottom.
• FICO score of 620 to 679. Here you’re getting into rougher territory. Your credit is OK, but it needs some work. You’re going to pay a little bit more in interest than folks who have better credit than you do. At this level, you might have trouble getting an unsecured personal loan.
• FICO score of 580 to 619. You’re down toward the bottom of the acceptable range. You can get credit, but it’s going to be with worse terms. A loan is going to be expensive.
• FICO score of 500 to 579. You have bad credit, there’s no getting around it. You’re not likely to get an unsecured personal loan at all.
• FICO score of 499 or below. You’re in dire straits. There’s not much you can do to get a loan at this level.