Business Funding Axis Capital Group Jakarta Review: The Average American Has This Credit Score

The Average American Has This Credit Score. How Do You Compare?

As lessons learned during the Great Recession become more distant, consumers are increasingly spending money again on everything from clothes, to cars, to condos, and the bills are piling up, especially for consumers who took a lump or two to their credit score over the past few years.

Climbing again

The amount of money Americans owe on revolving loans, such as credit cards, has marched from a post-recession low of $837 billion to $882 billion in October. Motor vehicle debt reached an all-time high of $943 billion in the third quarter, and the amount of money borrowed from banks to buy property has climbed for six consecutive quarters.

That may be good news for credit card companies like Discover Financial  (NYSE: DFS  ) and banks like Wells Fargo  (NYSE: WFC  ) , but it may not be good news for consumers, who are discovering that lenders are focusing more attention than ever on credit scores compiled by companies like Equifax (NYSE: EFX  ) . Those credit scores determine whether or not a credit card or loan will be approved, and what interest rate the borrower will be charged.

How do you stack up?

According to the credit tracking firm Credit Karma, more than 75% of Americans have a credit score below 700.

That's not good news given that banks are likely to offer their best terms to borrowers with scores that are above those levels.

Those better terms can mean less money from the borrower up front, and far lower interest rates that can produce thousands of dollars in savings over time.

For example, according to myFico, a borrower with a credit score below 660 who is taking out a five-year loan of $20,000 to buy a new car would pay an annual interest rate of 10.385%, or $5,724 in interest over the life of the loan. If that same person had a credit score north of 720, the interest rate would be a paltry 3.245%, which works out to total interest payments of just $1,693.

That $4,031 difference in interest payments is a lot of money, but that isn't the total financial impact of a lower credit score. Investing that $4,031 for 30 years in something like an index fund that returns a hypothetical 6.5% per year would result in an extra $26,662 in retirement savings, which means a lower credit score could mean the difference between pocketing an extra $26,000, or spending an extra $4,000.

Making changes

If you're one of the many who have a credit score below 700, there's no time like the present to begin making changes that could have a major impact on your retirement savings.

Rating agencies like Equifax are continuously updating credit scores, and as a result, changes made today can have a positive impact quickly.

One way to give a boost to a credit score is to reduce the balance carried on credit cards to below 30% of each card's credit limit. Credit card utilization has a big impact on credit scores, so making an extra monthly payment, or paying a bit more than the minimum payment every month can pay off fast.

Consumers may also want to contact their lender and ask them to forgive a late payment. If there are only one or two late payments on the account's credit history, and the borrower's history has otherwise been good, lenders may be willing to make a one-time adjustment. Borrowers may also want to ask their lender if they'd be willing to bump up their credit card limit. Lenders probably won't do that for borrowers with credit scores at the low end of the range, but for those with scores closer to 700, they might. If so, bumping up the credit limit could improve the credit utilization ratio used to calculate the borrower's credit score, too.

Finally, consider keeping a bit of cash handy for day-to-day purchases, rather than using a credit card. That can go a long way toward making sure credit balances don't sneak their way higher, and setting up automatic payments through your lender may help avoid late payments and related fees that can really hurt credit scores, too. While these tips won't fix credit scores overnight, they should go a long way toward healing any lumps to credit suffered in the past.

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Business Funding Axis Capital Group Jakarta Review: Top 10 mortgage tips for 2015

After mortgage rates stayed surprisingly low in 2014, who knows how they will shake out in this new year?

Whatever happens, borrowers who want to refinance or buy a home have the best chance to get the lowest rate by knowing more, not less, about the mortgage game.

These 10 tips can help you navigate the mortgage process in 2015.

PAY LESS MORTGAGE INSURANCE

Many homebuyers don’t have enough cash on hand to make a 20 percent down payment, which means that they generally are required to pay for mortgage insurance as part of their monthly mortgage payment. This insurance protects lenders when a borrower defaults on the loan.

Until late 2014, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac required down payments of at least 10 percent. The requirement pushed many homebuyers into Federal Housing Administration-insured loans, which have a minimum down payment of 3.5 percent. The problem is that FHA premiums are costlier than private mortgage insurance.

But in 2015, qualified borrowers will be able to get Fannie- and Freddie-backed mortgages with down payments as little as 3 percent. Mortgage insurance premiums vary according to credit score and size of down payment, but private mortgage insurance premiums generally are more affordable than FHA premiums.

GET A THOROUGH PREAPPROVAL

Not only do sellers often prefer buyers who come preapproved by a lender, making their offers more attractive, but a preapproved mortgage also can help you avoid any hiccups down the line.

With a real preapproval, a mortgage broker or bank loan officer will pull your credit report and submit supporting documentation to their automated underwriting system. This allows the bank to give you more accurate terms based on your actual credit score, debt obligations and income, instead of relying on your estimates. It also puts you ahead of the process when you finally go into contract and could help you close faster.

MAINTAIN YOUR CREDIT PROFILE

In the months leading to your home purchase, avoid changing your credit obligations, especially between a preapproval and the closing of your mortgage. The reason? It could hurt your credit score in a way that would raise the rate and fees related to your loan or, at worst, keep you from qualifying altogether.

GET ORGANIZED

Gather and keep every piece of financial paper in the two months leading up to buying a house. That means pay stubs, bank statements for savings, checking and investment accounts, W-2s, tax returns for the previous two years, canceled rent checks and any mortgage or property tax statements for other property you own.

DON’T MOVE MONEY AROUND

In the months leading up to your home purchase, keep your hands off your finances. That includes moving money from a savings account into a certificate of deposit, or CD. It also means no cashing in investments from stocks, retirement accounts or CDs. Otherwise, you will create a huge headache for yourself as you try to show the bank the paper trail of where that money came from. In a similar vein, avoid paying off debts with savings because that could cause your lender to worry about how you will pay for closing costs.

PREPARE TO WRITE LETTERS

Lenders these days scrutinize every corner of your financial life, and if something looks funny, even just a little bit, they will want to know why. That means you will have to write letters explaining the oddity.

GET YOUR GIFT EARLY

If a family member is gifting some or all of your down payment, make sure it’s deposited in your bank account more than two months before you apply for a mortgage. That way, the bank won’t need to source the large deposit.

SELF-EMPLOYED? PLAN AHEAD EVEN MORE

Self-employed borrowers have a higher hurdle to overcome after stricter mortgage requirements went into effect in 2014. The rules require documentation of income that includes two years’ worth of tax returns, a typically unreliable record of a self-employed person’s take-home pay.

To get around it, self-employed borrowers should plan to take fewer deductions the years before buying a house to boost their overall income. If they can’t, they may consider a co-signer on the loan whose income is documented by W-2 statements. Otherwise, they may need to search out an unconventional loan that can qualify them based on bank statements alone.

KNOW YOUR REFI MAGIC NUMBER

If you’re thinking about refinancing your home loan, figure out what mortgage rate you need. It’s not an easy number to calculate because you need to look at a host of factors regarding your loan, including what you want to get out of the refinance.

GET CREATIVE WITH A REVERSE MORTGAGE

Older homebuyers, especially those with fixed incomes, may want to consider a reverse mortgage to buy a home instead of draining retirement funds. A reverse mortgage lender contributes up to 52 percent of the sales price of a new home, while the senior, who must be at least 62 years old, comes up with the rest. The house is titled in the borrower’s name, but the lender retains a security interest in it. There are no monthly payments, and when the home is sold or no longer the borrower’s primary residence, the reverse mortgage must be repaid. Any remaining equity belongs to the borrower, heirs or estate.

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