Credit plans for life's big goals
Pick what you're working toward. Each guide shows what lenders look at and what to do month by month.
- Get your credit ready to buy a homeMortgage lenders look at your whole credit history, not just one number.
- Get your credit ready to finance a carYour credit mostly decides the interest rate you're offered, and on a car loan a few points of APR can add up to hundreds or thousands of dollars.
- Get your credit ready to rent an apartmentMany landlords run a tenant screening report before they approve you or set your deposit.
- Build or rebuild your creditWhether you have no credit yet or you're recovering from late payments, the path is the same: get accounts reporting on-time payments, keep balances low, and give it time..
- Pay down debt without hurting your creditPaying down debt is one of the most direct ways to improve your credit, because amounts owed make up about 30% of a FICO score.
- Protect your credit from identity theftThe strongest protection is free: a credit freeze at each of the three bureaus.
Working on more than one goal?
The quiz handles several goals at once and builds one plan around your budget.