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Is Income weighed any on your FICO?

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Anonymous
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Is Income weighed any on your FICO?

Some creditors feel I have a lot of debt.  I feel it is porportioned to my income.  I pay my bills each month 15k-20k/month so why can't I get my score to surge with a high income.
Message 1 of 7
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Anonymous
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Income is irrelevant...you can be on welfare or make $250...

Income is irrelevant...you can be on welfare or make $250K a year and it won't DIRECTLY affect your FICO in the least.

I say "directly," because I think income definitely has a strong INDIRECT effect on FICO. For instance, if my income had been higher, I could have afforded to pay the debts that charged off before they charged off, and my score would be much higher today. Financial problems are always easier to deal with when you've got good cash flow, so long as you can avoid the age-old problem of letting your expenses rise with your income.

Most likely the best way you can raise your FICO is making sure you never carry a balance of more than 25% or so on any credit card or line of credit. For example, if your credit card has a $10,000 limit, make sure your balance stays below $2500. Once you pass 40% utilization of a credit card, it begins to exert a parasitic drag on your FICO, and if you pass 75% or so, the effect amplifies. So pay down those cards...constantly pumping huge amounts of money through your credit cards isn't going to help. In fact, optimally you would carry a balance just large enough to generate a bill--say, $30 or so.
Message 2 of 7
Anonymous
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Income is only imputed by FICO scores. If you think about...

Income is only imputed by FICO scores. If you think about it, it's really irrelevant.

For example, someone who carries high balances (relative to credit limits) is living closer to the edge than someone who PIFs each month.
Message 3 of 7
Anonymous
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' Some creditors feel I have a lot of debt.  I feel it is...

'
Some creditors feel I have a lot of debt.  I feel it is porportioned to my income.  I pay my bills each month 15k-20k/month so why can't I get my score to surge with a high income.'
 
Even though your pay your bills in full each month the balances shown on your credit report may not reflect that.  If you pay the full statement due balance on a maxed out card on the due date but max it out before the next statement, it basically looks as ifyou are not really paying anything down because each month the card reports with basically the same balance.
 
Further, the oly time your income is considered is on your application, FICO does not consider income only payment history.  Some creditors may feel you have so much 'available credit' that ifyou choseto max it out at any one time, it would challenge your ability to repay the debt.
 
Back to the score question.  If your cards show more than a 30% utlilization, you are causing damage. Try using less than 30 percent per month and paying that off to see exactly where your score stands in a few months.
Message 4 of 7
Anonymous
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Income has zero impact on your credit score. The scoring...

Income has zero impact on your credit score. The scoring formula only takes into account the data reported by those who have extended you credit.
Message 5 of 7
Anonymous
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Strictly speaking, that's true. But I maintain that incom...



@Anonymous wrote:
Income has zero impact on your credit score. The scoring formula only takes into account the data reported by those who have extended you credit.




Strictly speaking, that's true. But I maintain that income has a very strong INDIRECT effect on FICO--simply put, bills are easier to pay when you have money to pay them.
Message 6 of 7
Anonymous
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Relating to the question though, it doesn't matter. I see...

Relating to the question though, it doesn't matter. I see your point but there is a misconception out there that if you make more money your score is better and vice versa. It's 100% debt management, regardless of income level.
Message 7 of 7
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