Understanding FICO® Scoring

[TheNewWorldMan]

I tell you three times.
I tell you three times.
I tell you three times.

You don't need to do AU tricks to get your child a good start with credit.

I have a 19 year-old friend I have mentored with credit--no tricks, no adding her to my account--and she's about to pass 700 on her FICO. That's quite adequate for any legitimate credit needs of a 19 year-old. Last month she bought a car...a sensible, $9,000 used car with about 35K of warranty left on it, not some $20,000 sportscar.

By the time she graduates from college, she'll easily have a 750 to 775 FICO. Good enough to get within a couple tenths of a percent of the best rate on a mortgage. No games or tricks or riding on her older buddy's coattails.

[Jamesus81801]

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HouseHunter wrote:

Ouch!  I'm glad the powers that be gave my baby to me - gloriously beautiful snotty nose and all.  I'll give her the start she deserves into adulthood, including getting her feet firmly planted in creditland, come hades or high water.

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Now no offense meant... But...

It's comments like this, from people who think like yourself.... That irritate the heck out of me(I would be more explicit, but I'm behaving myself)!!!

Let your child earn their stripes... why should they be catered to and handed things on a silver platter.

Now I do know some people who have had things handed to them all their lives who are good people... But that's maybe 5% of those that I know who have been given everything.

The rest of them are full of themselves, and they know that Mommy and Daddy will always come around to bail them out if they get in trouble, and so they act as if what they do and how they act have no consequences or that they do not affect the people around them.  All because you have decided they "deserve" more than somebody who doesn't have parents in the same financial position or with the same haughty opinion of themselves and/or their children.

You're child "deserves" nothing more than anybody else.  If they are worthy of the things that they achieve then by all means I give them my respect and they should be recognized for those achievements.

Your child does not deserve good credit, as the saying goes... "It is a privilege, not a right"

[mborgens]

I'm on the other end and will still be dinged. I've been married 20+ years, great credit rating - 815+ and just reviewed both of our credit reports. Both of us are listed as AU's on various accounts (some of our oldest accounts, pre-1990) that I just assumed were joint accounts. When I called the card companies, they were very aware of the AU issues but were very blunt that we were out of luck to change the accounts from individual w/ an AU to joint. I was told, "We can't do it, but we'll open another account." Then I was told by both that if we had a SS# attached to the AU account, they would continue to report. I'm assuming that it doesn't matter what's reported; instead, what only counts is what's used! Was I given a line about switching individual accounts to joint?