There are 5 weighted factors that are used in determining your FICO® score, the most common score used by lenders. Make sure you’re covered on all fronts using these quick tips for each factor:

In addition to your credit score, your debt-to-income ratio is a key metric to monitor when calculating your financial wellness. Measuring your debt-to-income can be one of the first steps in determining whether you’re comfortable with your current debt, as well as the extent to which you’re prepared to take on new debt.

It doesn’t take a credit scoring expert to tell you that missing payments is a bad thing. Credit scoring models evaluate your credit history to see how you’ve managed your current and past credit obligations in an effort to predict how likely you are to miss payments in the future. There are three main questions you should ask yourself about your late payments:

When a lender or creditor requests a copy of your credit report from the bureaus, this is called an inquiry. Inquiries may be listed on your credit history, and in some cases, could negatively impact your score. There are two types of inquiries:

In 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau published a study finding that 26 million Americans were “credit invisible”- in other words, about 1 in every 10 Americans has no documented credit profile with the 3 major credit bureaus.

The credit bureaus always want to demonstrate whether you’re opening credit accounts responsibly. When you apply for a mortgage, your lender will pull your credit, and a notation will be placed on your report indicating that it has been viewed. This is called an inquiry. Inquiries for car loans, mortgages and student loans are all regarded as inquiries and will typically lower your credit score.

Often overlooked, having the right mix of credit can really have an impact on your credit score. Think about your financial investments- how many times have you been told about the merits of “diversifying your portfolio”? Similarly, in the world of credit, the bureaus want to see a diverse buildup of credit use. In other words, they want to see that you aren’t putting all your eggs in one basket.

When a consumer makes spending choices that affect their credit report, the bureaus don’t update this information right away. In fact, it can take a month for new information to appear on a credit report. This is why it’s often necessary for lenders to append additional information to the borrower’s file before closing. This is where credit supplements and rescores come in. Oftentimes, these two terms are mentioned in similar contexts, so it’s only appropriate that we distinguish them from each other. So what’s the difference between a supplement and a rescore?

You may have heard the buzz surrounding credit booster programs. Experian Boost and UltraFICO are two programs designed to give a facelift to the credit profiles- and the credit scores- of many. But they’re not for everyone. Here’s how to determine whether a credit booster program is right for you.

If you’re new to this whole credit thing, it can be difficult to get on the scoreboard as a responsible credit user. So what can you do to jump-start your credit history? A popular suggestion is to become an authorized user on someone else’s account. But does this tactic really work?