Taking care of your credit allows you to help live a stress-free life. I have listed a few ways of taking care of your credit means to your life.

If you don’t think managing your credit is important, it's very important. Managing your credit has a major effect on your life. I have received a lot of the following benefits of taking care of my credit and want to share them with people who could use some assistance and awareness.

First off when it comes to your credit cards having excellent credit means having access to exclusive better credit card awards that are not offered to the general public.

Know your FICO score
It is important to casually monitor and look at your FICO score, I look at mine quarterly, semi-annually, and yearly. Your FICO score gives the lender an indicator of your credit health and your financial responsibility. The way they structure and group people are as follows:

FICO Score	Indicator
740 - 800	Excellent
670 - 739	Good
669 - Under	Poor

If you are below 670 you have some work to do as anything below a 670 credit score is considered a yellow light (warning) or some rise for concern to a lender. You will find yourself paying higher interest rates and paying way more interest than someone with 670 and above.

Here are some ways of taking care of your credit score can help make a huge impact in your life:

1.Applying for loans is quicker

If you take care of your credit when it comes time for you to apply for a loan, take out a small business loan, or for school lenders will not hesitate to approve you for what you want. Also, you will be able to take advantage of their lower interest rates they give you meaning you will pay less in interest. So instead of them having all the power to decide what to approve you for you will be empowered to get what you ask for.

2. Your loans will have lower interest rates

I keep saying this but this is definitely the bottom line, when seeking out loans you will pay lower interest rates on the money you borrow. Taking care of your credit allows you to leverage your money, your purchase power and your influence in your financing.

3. Credit Cards send you exclusive rewards

You will receive restricted credit card awards only available to those with higher credit score holders. The benefits they offer you can help to your bottom line. A good rule of thumb is to never carry over a credit card balance, by not carrying over credit card balances most credit card companies will send you hundreds or even thousands of dollars in rewards for free! You will only see these rewards if you take care of your credit.

4. Buy your house where you want to live

If you're a renter a landlord will pull your credit and if you have any warning signs on your credit this can prevent you from renting the place you want. If you're in the market for a house buying a home with excellent credit can help your home buying experience. It can be devastating if you have bad credit and are trying to buy a house it could be disappointing for you and your significant other. Not taking care of your credit could prevent you from buying your dream home. Trust me I have clients who sit in my office because they were rejected from the home buying process and were referred to me to get their credit fixed and repaired, don’t end up in that situation. It is a good idea to get started repairing your credit now so that you can use your buying power when you need it.

5. Having good credit means better insurance rates!

Believe it or not but insurance companies look at your credit score to determine your insurance rates, having poor credit statically means your more likely to have an accident. If you have a poor credit score plan on paying more for your auto insurance. Bottom line you need to take care of your credit score, baby your credit score, keep your credit score a priority.

6. The power of being pre-qualified

I recently purchased a sports car I always wanted and I knew better to go get pre-qualified. When you take care of your credit score getting pre-qualified is an easy and quick process. Getting pre-qualified means that your lender will do a hard pull on your credit meaning this will show up on your credit so do this smart and strategically, only do a hard pull once or twice I would not recommend doing this multiple times as this affects your credit score. Getting pre-qualified empowers you as a smart powerful buyer, your next purchase you can demand more and the place your planning on giving your pre-qualified loan to will consider you a serious buyer and will give you the time and will respond more effectively to your demands.

7. Employers now pull your credit scores

If you're in the market for a new job, sometimes employers will pull your credit score as a screen type of procedure. They don’t pull a hard credit report on you, there is something called an “employer screen report.” This will only allow an employer to see anything that is of significant importance to your credit report history. Having excellent credit could mean the difference between a job offer or not.

8. Your accounts will not ask for deposits

People with poor credit will likely be asked for a security deposit by their utility companies, cell phone companies, and other companies you sign up with. If you have excellent credit you won’t be asked for security deposits, for example, If someone with great credit purchases a new cell phone won’t be asked to drop $200 down for their purchase making their purchases quick and easy.

9. The power to negotiate

People with excellent credit have negotiation power in their hands, I have experienced this naturally. Walking into a retail place when I want to make a significant finance plan for a purchase I have noticed they will treat differently and will take the time to make sure your experience with them is great. They will give you their utmost personal service. Now as I got used to this I expect this and nothing less because I have worked hard to maintain that level of credit status. It is not easy but once you get there it is just a matter of maintaining your awareness of where you're at occasionally. For example my recent auto purchase I walked away with my car with all new four tires, new tint job, they replaced my back brakes and cabin filter before I drove off their lot. This is the power of having excellent credit.

10. Using the power of credit on your mortgage

Having great credit means being able to take advantage of lower interest rates when you have poor credit this can prevent you from being able to refinance your home. Being able to refinance your home is another powerful way to become financially independent.

11. Having great credit in an Emergency

Emergencies will come unannounced having excellent credit can help you in situations when they arise. Being able to take out a personal loan in unusual circumstances is a good feeling when you are in a position to do this. Having bad credit and being in the same situation can cause you to get a personal loan at a much higher interest rate and can sometimes even be rejected.

12. Credit Limits

This is not something to take advantage of, but having excellent credit means you will see on your statements and notifications that credit card companies will incrementally increase your line of credit. This also means that you can borrow larger amounts if you need to maybe to start a business or for school.

13. You are not an obligation

having poor credit means you might be obligated to someone, this means you would have to seek out a co-signer. Now, this is okay if you are 18 and have no credit history because you are just starting out, but if your 30 or 40 years old and need a co-signer this is a major sign that you need some serious help. Heed all the warning signs and start taking action to get your credit fixed right away.

14. People with high credit scores have better relationships

Having an excellent credit score could mean your significant other finds you more attractive! All joking aside having a high credit score can take all that unnecessary stress out of your life allowing to live your life stress-free. If you're just starting out and in the market for a significant other taking care of your credit score could be a priority to the person you admire. Also starting off this way in a relationship could mean possible longevity without any signs of internal fighting and leading to divorce.

15. Keeping control of your finances and in your future

Taking care of your credit is one less thing you need to worry about allowing you to move on to the other significant finance elements that affect your life. Take care of your responsibilities means paying your bills on time, keeping an eye on your credit, and managing your money and leveraging your money as a successful corporate business. Doing all these things empowers you to help you build wealth and paths a way for you and your families future.

It is important to take care of your credit, lots of people go through life without thinking twice about their credit. If you have poor credit in our local area I would be more than happy to sit down with you and help you get that stress you don’t need in your life. I want to help you make your money work for you. Let's save you paying lots of money in interest and keep that money in your pocket. Think of getting your credit fixed like going to a credit gym for your finances, it also needs a work out too. Let's keep you out of financial trouble! Call me today for an appointment.

Rene Gonzales

Senior Representative
c. 512-568-7203
e. [email protected]
www.Primerica.com/ReneGonzales