By David Rojas/reporter
With discipline and time, anyone can build good credit, which only makes life easier down the road, speakers told NE students Feb. 26.
NE success coaches Lucy Torres and Erin Kaszyncki conducted a seminar on managing credit.
Torres said everyone should always check on two important things: credit reports and credit scores.
The credit report is a record of money borrowed and repayment history with a lot of personal information while a credit score is a number predicting how risky it may be to lend someone money.
A credit report is free to get from three major credit reporting agencies: Trans-Union, Experian and Equinox. Torres said it’s easier getting one report from one agency every four months instead of trying to get all of them at the same time. To learn how to get one’s credit report, an authorized source is www.annualcreditreport.com, Torres said.
A credit score, on the other hand, is not free and must be paid to get access to it, usually $20. Torres said many things contribute to one’s credit score, but the main thing is one’s repayment history. People can learn more about their credit scores by going to www.myfico.com.
Torres also addressed how identity theft often happens regarding credit. She said it’s important to always monitor credit reports and never share a Social Security number or PIN numbers.
“These are the main things thieves use to steal someone’s identity,” she said.
Once Torres finished with the presentation, she and Kaszyncki played a credit climb score game with the audience by splitting them into two groups.
Both groups started with a credit score of 680, which is average for anyone. Each group was asked a question regarding credit. If the students got it right, they would gain points to their credit score, but if they got the question wrong, they would lose points. Although some students seemed hesitant and uncertain about answering the questions, Kaszyncki reassured them.
“It’s OK if you don’t know the answers. We didn’t know them either,” she said.
To learn more about credit, students can stop by the student success center in the NE Student Center Monday through Friday.
