Your financial well being is something that you should not underestimate, even for a second. You do not need to be an expert in the field of finance in order to implement proper budgeting and to plan the future distribution of your wealth. The good news is that there are all sorts of tools that can help you get on the right track and manage your finances in a beneficial manner. You can even get a relatively accurate credit score estimate just by filling a simple survey.
It is true that you can also get a complete credit report, but there are certain pitfalls that you have to be aware of. Firstly, you will likely have to pay for it – the fee can be monthly or it could be a one-time fee. You could incur an even higher cost if you want to take advantage of a professional credit monitoring service.
Moreover, with some services you might not be able to get your report at any time, even though you are promised an unlimited number of them. This can occur because the information might not always be available or updated frequently to the agencies that process and calculate your credit score.
Also, even though the companies providing this type of service have taken high level security measures, you are never totally safe from identity theft.
So, instead of signing up for such a service, you can opt for a credit score estimate to get a relative idea of what your credit score is before applying for a loan or mortgage. All you need to do is to use a tool from Bankrate, which includes 10 questions that you need to answer. These are readily available online for free and they are totally safe as you are not required to fill in any personal or financial information. In fact, you can also use such a service provided by a credit score agency. After completing the survey you will be presented with an estimate of the range of your credit score. You have to take into consideration the fact that you will not be given an exact number.
Furthermore, the ranges actually differ since the different systems use different mathematical models for calculating it. In any case, it is best for you to rely on the FICO score which is the most widely used and accepted of the credit scoring models.
This number is calculated by having different weights for these different financial factors. These are your payment history (how you make your bill payments and loan repayments), credit utilization (the ratio between revolving debt and revolving credit), length of credit history and the types of credit that you use. The number of enquiries for your credit score by third parties is also accounted for. These determine your credibility as a borrower. Thus, you can expect your credit score estimate to be based on this information. This means that you have to do some calculations and check a number of your financial circumstances in order to complete the survey accurately. This is essential because even though it is just a credit score estimate, you want to get as precise as possible with the result..