Credit Trends

This credit score is the average it doesn't mean that's what your score is. Just pay your bills early and you will get a great credit score. I'm 29 and have a score of 810 which is higher then the 55+ bracket. And my score is 810 after having recently refinanched my home which lowered it about 30 points.

Which score are you comparing ?

Do you know that if you are not an American citizens (citizenship) you can't even get a loan for mortgage?

So get your citizenship. Do u realize in most of the world yu cannot eventravel thru without a visa?

Do you realize that you cannot just "get" you citizenship? It's a process that takes 3+ years depending on your visa. Yes you do need a visa to live and work in the United States. And you can not just "get" a visa either without meeting certain requirements. Only certain individuals can visit the US for less than 3 months without a visa. Please inform yourself before making such statements.

My score was 709 when I turned 18, now it's 749 and I'm 21. 40 points every 3 years, I hope mine hits 810 by 29 : D I have been letting a credit balance sit for a while and paying it slowly. Should probably pay that off...

true

@cecefun2 - You can get a loan without being a citizen, you must, however, be a permanent resident.  If you don't have permanent residency, there is nothing holding you here, and if you leave, well, the bank can't come after you in a foreign country.  Sorry.

Not so. I got a home loan in 2000 but I didn't get my residency 'till 2004 (the application had started however). I'd been on work visas since 1994. I had good credit and history (750 or so) and the mortgage cost me no more than the broker expected.

I got a mortgage and I'm not a citizen!

DieuSoldat -- it gets progressively harder to gain points as your score gets higher.  Because, well, how much difference is there really between someone who has always made payments on time for 10 years, and someone who has done the same for 11, 12, 13, or even 14 years?  Certainly a whole lot less difference than between someone who has just applied for their first credit card, and someone who has paid on time for 1 year, or two, or 3.

Takeaway: if you do all the right things, your score will keep going up.  But, it probably won't go up as quickly 5 years from now as it is now, for doing the same things.

I was not an American citizen in 2008 when I purchased my house. I became a Citizen in 2010. Citizenship has nothing to do with loans...as long as you have a SSN number you can get a loan. If you are a foreign national without an SSN you will not be able to obtain a loan.

PS: I also work in a finacial institution ...where we grant loans to non-citizens with SSN all the time!

Thats not true,you just need a green card to get a SS# then you can get credit , I should know as I have a green card and have lived 14 years in the US..

Tell this to the 2500+ illegals living in Storm Lake IA

you could not have had a score of 709 when you turned 18. 18 years old is when you can start to get credit, because that is when you are legally an adult. You cannot obtain credit berfore then. Your score does not start out that high. It starts low.

I hope to be where you are when I get there! I'm 20 and just hit 745, I know those last 50-100 points are the hardest.

Yup, isn't being just about an American citizen grand?

Good - and that's the way it should be and stay !

Thats the way it should be, I think you should have to be a American citizen to sign any sort of loan document.

I've been reading the comments and I'm thinking most of the younger people are doing a great job and being responsible.  However, when you are doing well, planning your retirement, paying off your mortgage and loans and all of a sudden you get sick, lose the job you set to retire from in 8 months, the savings get eaten up with legal fees trying to save that job from unscruptulous supervisors, all of a sudden the medical bills hit you, bankruptcy is staring at you and the nightmare is out of control!!  So you start over after losing your profession, going on disability, paying outrageous insurance premiums and thanking the good Lord that you haven't had to fall even farther.  You look at your credit score and are hopeful that a score of 693 will rise into the 700's and even though you are only 423 dollars in debt you owe nothing else, save the routine monthly utilites, drug bills, groceries and Dr. visits and the insurance premiums for health, life & funerals, which will come eventually.  Sounds grim, huh?  Not really, at least you wake up every day & can thank the Lord for another day to worship and serve Him.  Growing older or getting sick doesn't come with guarantees.

To the person who says the other person could not have had a good credit score when they turned 18:

My friend (as well as everyone in her family), had an AMAZING credit score when she was 18, because her parents had added her name onto many of their accounts when she was still in High School.  Her dad was smart and gave them this huge advantage in life, as well as sending them all to a class at the local university that taught them how (important it was) to keep the scores he had gotten them.  So, it is possible... just not very likely, because most people's parents don't do that for them.

And that is exactly the way it should be!

it only takes a few years of credit history to get your credit score into the mid 700's.  I'm 23 with a score in the 760's, got my first 2 credit cards when I was 19 and didn't make a single charge on them for the first 1.5 years.  You might need the 40 years of credit history to get a credit score closer to 850 but realistically you only need a score in the upper 700's to get good credit offers/rates/deals, which I managed in less than 5 years of credit history.

Not true I am 23 and my score is in the mid 700's because I have never allowed myself to have any credit card debt.  As long as you pay your bills on time, build a decent amount of credit, and keep you debt load low, you can get a good credit score.

What is not true is the fact you saying that it is not true.  If you try to buy a house now, guess what, your credit score is not going to serve as well as you thought.  Your credit history plays a big role in big purchases like car or house.  For credit cards, your socre (in most cases) will be sufficient.

PupilOfConfucious,

Allow me to disagree with you.  You can definitely qualify for excellent ratings on a car or a house with a credit history that has only been open for 5-10 years.  When I was 22 (credit history open since I was 18) I qualified for the lowest possible rating on a $25k car loan WITHOUT a co-signer.  All I did was make sure 100% of my payments were made on time and that 95-100% of my credit card was paid off every month. 

It's definitely possible.  Age is not an obstacle to a god credit score or obtaining excellent loans on car or home purchases.

Err... "lowest possible rating" was supposed to be "lowest possible interest."

Yoozer: That's exactly right: Longevity--or the age of your credit lines--is just ONE of the keys to great credit. Young people do have a bit of  handicap on just this one key. For them, paying their bills on time, keeping their hard pull credit inquiries to a reasonable 1 to 2 per year, and having a mix of different types of credit--like car loans and various credit cards becomes all the more important. But we shouldn't look at this as discrimination in a negative sense. EVERYONE must be willing to porve to their lenders that they are responsible at the credit game. Over time, the payoff is obvious: your scores will rise. Act silly or irresponsible, and the result will be a stiff drop in scores. It's really the fairest system ever devised. The deadbeats get what coming to them. The responsible folks get showered with ever more credit. 

Now really, what could possibly be more fair?  

I am 23 and have $30,000 in debt (no mortgage) and have a 765 credit rating, just have to be responsible

 ditto to most of that

Could be true, but I got my first credit card about 3.5yrs ago, financed a $50k bmw with their best financing rates, and have 4 credit cards with combined credit limit of $28k. Score is 750+.

I am 29 with a credit score of 738, this chart means nothing if you pay your bills on time every time.  Don't count yourself out because you are young and the statistics don't match up.

danger...it's cool that you've had a couple credit cards that helped you boost your score. However, keep in mind that in order to obtain any amount of substantial financing (house, business start-up, high limit cc, etc) you'll need more than just a couple credit cards, in today's market that is.

I've read a few posts down below too. It seems like most of the young people here think they've already figured out the entire system. It looks like you're on the right track. Try and go for a high limit card or maybe a revolving line of credit through your bank for around $5k. The larger the dollar amounts are on your credit report (provided you actually use them and pay them off within terms) the better your report and score will be.

Having a credit score of 700+ doesn't mean much anymore when applying for larger purchases and lines of credit. Dollar amounts of the tradelines, age of the trades, and types of trades also play a big role.

Here's an example of how things have changed...in 2005 I was 18 years old. Just got my first credit card and cell phone in my own name. I bought a house with 3% down payment on a FHA loan. I barely had enough credit history to generate a score. This would NEVER happen, nor should it ever happen in today's market. Thank you.

you need more than a good score to get good offers/rates/etc on major purchases. You won't be able to obtain decent financing for a house with only 2 credit cards...sorry dude

unfourtunatley since the recession ( which we are not out of the woods yet) it is harder to pull that. You are lucky that you got that interest rate when you did, banks and car dealerships are not takeing that big of a risk anymore. I work at a small community bank and luckily we did not need any bail out but now we need to put more money aside to cover any risky loans from the past that might not be able to get collected on. People just dont want to take the risk, you need a cosigner for everything these days!

I just bought a house at 23.  Even after the mortgage (4.5% fixed 30 yr FHA renovation loan with 5% down) I have a score in the 750s.  hint: don't carry balances and pump your available credit to minimize your utilization percentage.

there is a way around this........................ I am 26 I got my first  credit score when I was 20 years old. My score now is 740 which is great.  I just got a home loan before that my score was 784.  Here is how to beat the system.  IF you cant get a loan or a credit card or you just want to boost your score this is how you do it if you are a young person.....    1 )  Only have open 2 credit cards   2) only have 2 installment loan open At one time.  3) only use no more than 7% of your available credit.  If you do this for about 18/mo your score will be Great.  4) close all other accounts.  Don't worry about the average age of accounts.  that is a small amount of your score.  Keep in mind 35% of everyones score in any age is based on if you've paid on time.  The most important thing to remember is if you are young like me and need help getting a loan of any kind student, car , House, credit ETC.  Only use local banks Regardless, move your FDIC accounts to them first.  Then speak to loan officers Directly.  Major banks only go by score not each person.  If you have 2 Grand in a bank and have a 620 score or higher go to a local bank and tell them what you need. Even if they suggest a secured loan product go for that.  IT will help you in the long run thats what I did.  TRUST ME ON THIS.  IF you need any more help contact me   Bugman@nc.rr.com    put in the subject line Credit Karma Question.

But you see, it's not only credit cards, it's loans, time shares, hospital and medical bills, etc....

Im 19 with a 720. Have only had credit for the past year, my parents have had credit for 20+ years and are only in the high 700's its all about how good you are with the credit you have.

@jhaddock

I"m at 25 with a score over 750, I bought my house at 22 with no issues and only 2 credit cards open at the time. Please don't talk about what you don't know.

im 24 and have a 748

wallsoflight,

What could be more fair? The way you describe the system it sounds real just.

However, imagine imagine someone living paycheck-to-paycheck but paying all the bills on time, no problem (did I just describe 50+% Americans?).

Now, the guy gets laid off. But, let's say there's no crisis, he gets another job within 3-5 months. In the process he is late on his payments, once or twice.

DOWN goes the score, UP go APRs. So he misses more payments...

DOWN goes the score, UP go APRs. See where it's going...?

So if you were going to lend out some of your money, you wouldn't feel more secure about lending to someone who has managed credit responsibly for 40 years than you would about lending to someone who has only managed credit responsibly for 2 or 3 years?

This stuff isn't arbitrary. The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior, and people with more of a known history are easier to predict. Just because it sucks to be 20 and have a lower credit score, that doesn't mean it's somehow unfair. It's just statistics.

Right when I turned 18, I opened 2 credit cards and ym score was 709. $2500 limit on first card. Now I'm 21, at 749. My credit is better than my dad's. They want to use my name to buy a house. The thing people don't realize, is bank accounts matter as well.

I had savings & checking sicne I was 13. The high traffic in my savings is the only thing I can think of to make my opening score 709.

I noticed that credit scores go DOWN in the 34-44  range.  I wonder why this is?  I know in my two daughter's cases, it's because they don't pay off  credit cards, and one just takes out card after card and maxes them out, now they have just gone through bankruptcy, their second since they married!  And my husband and I also loaned our daughter $13,000 to pay off her bills in 96, then she promptly started taking out cards again, tho she'd promised us she wouldn't!  They have such low credit scores it's shameful.  And they weren't raised that way.  My husband and I were always sticklers when it came to paying our bills on time, so we just can't figure out why the girls are this way.  My son in law makes $75,000 or more a year, so there is NO EXCUSE for bankruptcy unless you consider living just for today and not thinking of tomorrow a valid excuse.  We are just heartbroken that our family values seemed to have meant nothing to our children.

they're based off similar algorithms used at the transunion credit reporting bureau as part of their agreement, although are not exactly transunion methods they are faily acurate. FICO scores are an average of experian, transunion and whatever that third major one is. all of them have their own methods. this sight just provides excellent methods of council, promotional cards that maximize our gain in applying for them, and an attractive and simple means to measure our progress and encourage strengths in building our credit.

I agree im 22 and I have a credit score almost at 790.  So many people think we cant hold our ouwn but we cant!You should feel very good not many people at our age have credit scores in above 760. Good job! It also helps to have a mentor who has been in business and knows the ropes about credit my mentor is my boss and I own it all to him.

I'm 19 and I have a 751. So I do agree with you.

this is shown in the "my credit" -> "credit compare" page.  It shows how you rank in your age group as a percentile

I have lived paycheck to paycheck and I have lived moderately without worrying about money.

To say "Someone's never had to live paycheck-to-paycheck, obviously." Is firstly very judgemental and secondly really not anyones place to see as we dont know them.

I am 26 and have lost over $12,000 (in creditors money) in business venues begining when I was 20. I have now paid it all back and am working my credit up very quickly. The #1 Key is "LIVING WITHIN YOUR MEANS". And often that means sacrificing what we want to pay our bills. It is a thing of priority. I am not trying to say anything negative just some possitive encouragment! :)

If you can't afford to pay at least the minimum payment on a card every month, and, over the course of a year, keep a balance that doesn't increase, then you have discipline issues. Maybe you DIDN'T need to go to the bar that one night, maybe you should eat at home instead of fast food, maybe taking that time off work wasn't such a good idea.

I've lived paycheck to paycheck, and while it's not easy, I've never missed a payment. YOU signed a contract with the credit card company to pay your bill on a schedule. Paying late isn't a "part of life" or a right. If you can't pay in time, don't borrow the money. The credit card doesn't exist so you can run up a bar tab it takes you 6 months to pay off. It doesn't exist so you can get that new TV and worry about it later. The credit card exists to provide a safe way to spend (debit cards don't have the same protections that credit cards have) as well as provide a high interest short term loan in certain situations. Example: the car breaks - if you can affod the payment to fix it - go for it, if not - TAKE THE BUS.

Some things are not always as simple as they seem.  I ran into a problem with the military paying my student loans.  So, while I was serving my country....the interest kept building lol I have just gotten the $60,000 dollars worth of interest under control.    It wasn't easy but I am starting to recover from it all.

I live paycheck to paycheck for the most part and I still manage a score of 752.  The key is living within your means.  Instead of trying to be that cool guy with the sweet car, eating out every night, with a cell phone bill of $150/month, drive a beater, cook your own meals, and get a cheap phone.  Living paycheck to paycheck doesn't mean you automatically can't pay bills; people just can't get their financial priorities straight

With all due respect, the young are more likely to live paycheck to paycheck and therefore be late on a payment.  Further, the young are more likely to take on debt.  It's a vicious little cycle.  But, older people generally are more responsible with their money.