Financial Samurai

Slicing Through Money's Mysteries

Understanding The Different Types Of Credit Scores – There’s Over 60!

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Free donuts and coffeeYou’d think that after reaching an 800+ credit score, life would be all donuts and free coffee right? Well, I’ve got to admit, nobody taught me a secret handshake, or gave me a coupon for a free deep-tissue massage. Instead, life just went on like usual.

While you’ve probably heard of Fair Isaac Corporation’s FICO score before, you may not know there are actually over 60 different versions of FICO’s credit scores! Talk about overload.

In addition to 60+ different credit score versions, there are other “FAKO” scores from other distributors not affiliated with FICO such as VantageScore.

This post will go over:
* Why there are so many different credit scores
* The dominance of FICO and the new FICO 9 credit score calculation
* The three main credit bureaus
* A list of what does and what does not affect your credit score
* The three main “FAKO” scores

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Who Should Check Their Credit Scores And How Often?

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Money You Will Lose If You Don't Check Your Credit Score!I am a big fan of everybody checking their credit scores at least twice a year regardless of their borrowing needs. The world is a sinister place where greedy corporates go to no ends to crush you for being late on any payments you’ve made, no matter how small. There are also an endless amount of identity thieves out there who will take advantage of unassuing people.

Some corporates will purposefully let your late payment sit for years before they can come after you because that way, they can tack on huge fees and really rip you a new one when they finally get a hold of you.

Just go ask the IRS what they like to do about erroneous tax returns. They’ll wait 3 years to let you know that you made a mistake on your tax returns. In those 3 years, they will have tacked on an usurous interest rate penalty 100X higher than the savings rate you can get in your money market account. Why? Because they can and will bank on your fear to pay the money and shut up!

Why do you think the IRS tax code is 70,000 pages long? To confuse the crap out of you and make you make mistakes so they can assess you penalties! That’s right. The world is a sinister place and you need to be protected by educating yourself and consistently checking your credit score at least twice a year to see if it’s getting dragged through the mud.

REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD CHECK YOUR CREDIT SCORE REGULARLY

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Does A Good Credit Score Really Matter Anymore?

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Does a high credit score matter anymore? Most don't careA couple mortgage refinances ago, I almost screwed myself because I had an $8 judgment against me from my local utility company that crushed my credit score by ~100 points. I thought I had an excellent credit score of 780, and I did, when I first started my 100 day refinance hell. But when my refinance bank pulled my credit report again around the 90th day, my TransUnion score plummeted to 680.

My mortgage refinance was delayed by another 10 days as my bank investigated the situation. Thankfully, everything turned out fine in the end. Since that time, I decided to regularly check my credit score once a year like I check my latest insurance coverage and health coverage. It’s good practice given it’s estimated about 5% of credit reports have errors as well.

Given I finally got rejected from my latest mortgage refinance attempt by Chase, I’ve begun to question whether a credit score has any meaning anymore. You see, I never missed a mortgage payment on this particular mortgage, and my latest credit score showed a 787. Anything above a 740 is considered excellent, and good enough for the best rate by major lenders.

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Determining The Value Of Your Credit Card Rewards Points

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Honolulu, HawaiiI’ve only got two credit cards: one for personal use, and one for business use.

I like concentrating all my spending on one card so I can get maximum points to buy things like a home theater system, nights at the Halekulani Hotel, gasoline cards, and tennis racket grips!

Credit card reward points have value and like anything with value we tend to hoard. I know plenty of people who never use their reward points for years, only to see the cost of things skyrocket. Worse yet, some credit card reward programs expire after so many years.

My favorite example of a rise in rewards points cost is a round-trip ticket to Hawaii from California. Over the past 12 years, I’ve gone to Hawaii over 20 times. It’s a direct 4.5 hour flight from San Francisco, and I absolutely love it there for obvious reason. If any readers want to meet up in Honolulu the second half of April let me know!

Before the year 2000 it cost 25,000 points for an economy class round-trip ticket valued at roughly $350. In other words,  it took 75 points to buy $1. In 2013, the same flight now costs 35,000 to 50,000 points depending on the time of the year. Meanwhile, you can get tickets during the off season through Hawaiian Airlines, Alaska Airlines, or United for just $300 from San Francisco! It now takes ~120-170 points to buy $1.

Not only does it now take 60-100% more points to get a similar ticket, the cost of directly purchasing a ticket has stayed relatively flat. As a result, whenever I can purchase a ticket for less than $350 to Hawaii, I do so without points.

CALCULATING THE VALUE OF CREDIT CARD REWARDS POINTS

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What Doesn’t Affect Your Credit Score? Dispelling Common Misconceptions

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Average Credit Score ChartIn “How To Improve Your Credit Score to 800+” I shared with you five steps to take in order to enter the exclusive 800 Credit Score Club filled with beautiful people, gummy bears, and free massages. It’s good enough to get the most amount of credit at the cheapest rate, but to be elevated to “Tier 1 Datable Status” is just amazing!

Following instructions is probably the easiest path to financial success. Sign your name at the end of the exam. Don’t buy depreciating assets. Listen to your elders. Wait for enough time to pass. Sometimes we do things we think are right, but are actually wrong. Other times we worry about things we’ve done which we think are wrong, but are actually irrelevant. This post is about irrelevancy as it relates to your credit score.

After doing some digging online, I found a site called Totally Money highlighting various misconceptions about what can negatively affect a credit score. I’d like to comment on each misconception, share some of my own, and perhaps get your thoughts as well.

WHAT DOESN’T AFFECT YOUR CREDIT SCORE

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Should I Ask Someone For Their Credit Score Before Getting Into A Serious Relationship?

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Average Credit Score By Age ChartA very good friend of mine will only marry a woman with at least a Master’s degree from a top 25 school. Given less than 10% of the western world has a Master’s degree, it’s kind of curious why he’d want to limit his pool of mates given he’s still single at 35 years old. The answer is that he has a Doctorate in Medicine from Columbia and a cardiology fellowship from Cornell.

As any good friend should, I’ve made fun of him for years for being so picky. He’d always retort, “Look Sam, I’m a catch! If a woman wants to date me, they’ve got to be up to snuff.” He’s hilarious and I love him for it! I could never quite understand his insistence for a highly educated woman until I finally got an 805 on my credit score this summer. (How To Improve Your Credit Score To 800+)

The difference between an 805 credit score and a 770 credit score is negligible. You still get the best rates by lending institutions who gladly open up their coffers. But to go from a high 700s level to over 800 takes years. The process feels like plate tectonics where land moves only one inch a year. So being the very honest person that I am, I suddenly started thinking questions such as:

“Should I figure out someone’s credit score before I marry them?” 

“Should I set a minimum credit score limit for a woman I plan on dating?”

“Should I raise my minimum credit score hurdle rate for prospective tenants to 760 from 720?”

“Can I fully trust someone with my financials if s/he has under a 700 credit score?”

“Will TransUnion send me a framed copy of my credit score if I ask?”

I’m suddenly an arrogant bastard! I went through some very similar thoughts after I finished business school as well. Suddenly, everybody without an MBA didn’t seem as smart, especially my bosses who just had undergraduate degrees and not even CFA designations. Despite my more experienced bosses bringing in more revenue to the firm, I mentally discounted their achievements. The air of superiority only lasted for a couple months before I returned to a normal cog in the wheel. (Should I Get An MBA To Find A Wealthy Husband Or Wife?)

The more you achieve, the higher your expectations of others. I kind of feel sorry for children of very wealthy parents, brilliant entrepreneurs, celebrities, or double PhDs.

EVERYTHING IS A SCREENING MECHANISM

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