Even if you have full coverage car insurance, unfortunately everyone else doesn’t. There are times when people don’t have insurance and in those cases, you want to make sure you’re still covered. This is a clause in many insurance policies that cover bodily injury or property losses caused by a motorist with coverage insufficient to cover total dollar amount of losses.
Everyday we hear people say “get your free credit report” or “get your free credit score”? But what is the difference? This is a good question that a lot of people don’t’ understand. The credit report is a detailed outline of your credit history. Your score is a number generated based on the things in your history.
Do you just have credit cards on your credit report? Do you just have a car loan? How about a mortgage? What you may not realize is that having just one kind of credit actually hurts your score. It’s always better to have a mixture. It makes up about 10% of your total score.
Having two or more credit cards can affect your credit score in many ways.
It can be negative when the only type of credit you have is in the form of credit cards. Your credit should be diversified among various forms of credit and not just credit cards. It could also hurt your credit score if your cards are all new. Your credit score could also suffer if your balance on each card is high.
The primary way having multiple cards can help your score is if you make all your payments on time, every time.
If you’re looking to deduct your credit card interest from your taxes, here are some ways you can do it:
Fraudulent charges happen everyday on credit cards. That’s why identity theft protection is a multi billion dollar industry. People want to protect themselves in the event of a security breach.
In order to avoid liability for fraudulent charges, be proactive about checking your credit card accounts often. Also sign up for spending alerts so you’ll know when a purchase has been made. Some companies give daily alerts. Or, the moment a purchase happens.
Areas of your credit card statement to pay attention to:
Finance charges. These charges are the amount of money you will be charged if you do not pay off your balance in full.
Grace period. This is the period of time you have to until your payment will be deemed as late.
There is also an area that will break down how your current debt was calculated.
Use this information as your tool for helping you manage your credit. The more you understand, the more power you have over your finances.
You don’t want to finance purchases on your retail card because they typically carry a high APR rate. It’s best to not carry your balance and to instead pay it off before interest accrues. Most store cards may only offer awards worth only 1% of your spending. In other cases, non-store cards may offer up to 2% cashback on all purchases. It’s better to just use your retail cards for purchases in the store and to pay the balance off as soon as possible.
When you’re ready to apply for a new credit card, keep in mind the terms and conditions. Read through them carefully. By doing so, you ensure that you are aware of the introductory rates, annual fees, overseas transactions fees, APR details, balance transfer fees, and more.