Why Both Spouses Should Each Have An Independent Credit History

Gone are the June and Ward Cleaver days from the show Leave it to Beaver.

Our generation is changing quickly. We are getting married later in life. For women, it’s around 31 and for men, it’s about 34 years of age. First time marriages now have a 67% chance in surviving divorce. Married couples head 84% of our population. Now is the time to understand how important your credit score is for your financial health.

 

Are stay-at-home spouses at a credit disadvantage?

Stay-at-home spouses, male or female, can be at a disadvantage in today’s credit society if they have not already established individual credit prior to entering into marriage. The best advice for both spouses is to build independent credit histories . This is especially important if the marriage breaks-up or a spouse dies. Your partner's credit history is now no longer relevent for you. Also, in case of an identity theft of your spouse, your personal credit rating can support your family purchases until your spouse's credit identity has been restored--only if your credit score is a good one. Obviously if you have bad credit that'll be harmful rather than helpful.

Here’s how to create  your own personal credit rating. 

• Keep some bills in each of your own names after you marry. This will allow for independent credit histories.
• If you don’t have any credit built, apply for a credit card in your name. Make payments on time to create a responsible credit history.
• Getting a personal or car loan in  your name and your spouse's is also another great idea.
• Household bills like water, cable or hydro can also start a positive paper trail in your name.

Awareness is the first step in building a future for your family and strengthening the credit score for you and your spouse. Of course, a strong credit rating comes only from paying your bills over a protracted period of time.

For more valuable information, visit www.prudentcreditrepair.ca

Are You Protecting Yourself From Identity Theft?

Prior to the dawn of the Internet the term identity theft would conjure up images of pick pockets and dumpster diving. With the advent of the information age, Identity fraud or impersonation has steadily become a much more prevalent crime in our society. In Canada 20% of us have been victims of identity theft. Who wants a collection call regarding an overdue amount on a card you never knew you had? Educating yourself is the best deterrent.

What’s in your trash? Identity thieves obtain your information from the items you put at your curb on trash day, and even from the receipts you throw out in a public garbage can. Even an out of date Mortgage statement or a tax statement has enough information on it to get them started in duplicating your identity. The solution is simple, shred or destroy anything that has your name on it prior to throwing it out. Digital information stored on your computer or CD’s is a little harder to re-cycle. If you are selling your old computer or donating it, often wiping, deleting or reformatting will not be enough. Depending on your computer, research what software you need to wipe your hard drive clean for good.

Good Old Fashion Mail. Do you make sure you get all your statements from whom you should monthly? Make it a priority of opening and reading every bill and statement you get monthly. What if one went missing would you ever know it? Identity thieves often pray on pre approved credit cards and will often commit mail fraud to do it. Make sure you know if anything goes missing so you are one step ahead and can call your bank and change your information before they use it.

Paying Bills On Line. It’s difficult not to use the Internet for some kind of transactions, weather it’s making sure a phone bill is correct or banking in general. The key is to make sure you are using a secured page to do so. Look for a lock in the browser bar or “https” that means your data will be sent encrypted. Beware of “Free Trials”. They may be a net set up to catch your personal information to use it to further re-create your identity or to obtain your credit card info.

Why Obtain Your Own Credit Report Annually. If you don’t know what yours looks like how do you know you are not already a victim of identity theft? Usually most people find out when it’s too late and they are in need of credit. Stay ahead of the criminals and protect yourself.

Create A Secure Password. Your password should be made up of upper and lower case letters and numbers. This makes for a stronger encryption. One tip is to use numbers that look like letters. Substitute 5 for an S for example.

Social Security Number? Memorize It? Keep your S.I.N. out of your wallet! It is the one number associated with you that, in the wrong hands could lead to years of bad credit.

Remember you are your own first line of defense in protecting yourself from the unforeseen.

For more valuable information please visit www.prudentfinancial.net

How to Build Credit for New Immigrants or If You Have to For Yourself

It’s very difficult to know where to start to build credit when you don’t have any. Financial institutions and creditor’s see new immigrants and people born here who have no credit at all as a high risk since they often don’t have any history to support their request for credit. If you search Google for www.canada.creditcards.com you will find more helpful information to help you along. Here are a few simple ways to get your credit started and to improve your credit so that lending Institutions and Creditor’s will start to give you a chance and approve you for credit.

Understand how credit works.

Get a credit report through Equifax or Trans Union to see what you have associated with your name. Sometimes you may not know you already have some positive credit created and sometimes you will find out you have a few things that are looked upon negatively, that you can then take care of.

Use Cheques & Open a Bank Account Savings with Overdraft in Your Name

When you do this you automatically start a paper trail the Banks can track that, will put you in a good light with creditors. Make sure your Ckeques don’t bounce and your overdraft is always paid, showing responsible payment histories.

Have your work Cheques deposited into your account and pay your bills through the Bank.

Once again this is all recorded and will show a good history of bills being paid on time or at least the minimum balance being paid. Your utilities (electric bill, gas bill, phone and internet) will also support a positive payment history.

Apply for a secure Credit Card through a Bank

This is a credit card that will hold (even a minimum balance of $500.00) until you have shown that you can use it, pay off the balance owing or minimum balance creating good responsible history that lending companies can track. Once they have seen you are responsible you can ask them to turn it into an unsecured credit card and continue showing the banks you are worthy of credit as you pay the minimum or complete balance off each month.

Remember the sooner you start your credit history the more positive credit you can generate. Many accountants will tell you that the best credit obtained is the longest credit history that indicates you have a job or income revenue coming in and that you are responsible for making payments to support your request for a loan or more credit.

For more valuable information please visit http://www.prudentfinancial.net/

Conserve on Household Energy and put Money in your Pocket

Have you tried cutting down on your Tim Horton’s coffee every day to see how much money you save? Often it’s the little things that can save a lot of money year round. When energy prices are rising, you may ask yourself, “How can I reduce my costs and save money on energy?” The federal government is bringing back the popular eco ENERGY Retrofit for Homes Grants Program, which assists eligible homeowners to receive grants up to $5000.00. It is important to have an energy evaluation completed before any work begins. On average, the program saves 20 percent on the energy bill. Apart from applying for the Retrofit Program, here are a few helpful tips below that you could consider implementing to start saving immediately:

• Install dimmer switches to use less electricity. Keep your fridge and freezer full since food acts as an insulator to maintain a certain temperature. Install a Programmable Thermostat then set the temperature lower at night and when you are away.

• Install ceiling fans to keep the air circulating in your home and your air conditioner won't have to work so hard.

• Wash laundry in cold water - 90% of the energy consumed by your washing machine is used to heat water. Turn the dial to cold, and lower the bill. Line dry your laundry and let Mother Nature dry your laundry.

• Switch to CFL bulbs. CFL light bulbs use four times less energy than incandescent bulbs. Install Motion Sensors - motion sensors can be installed both inside and outside the home to ensure that lights only come on when needed.

• Turn Off Heat/Dry on Your Dishwasher.

• Install a Programmable Thermostat.

• Install Low Flow Shower Heads. The less water flowing through your shower head means less water to heat.

• Eliminate “Phantom” Electrical Use. A surprising 75% of the energy used by home electronics is consumed when they're turned off. These "phantom" users include: televisions, VCRs, stereos, computers, basically anything that holds a time or other settings. Plug all of these items into power strips and then get into the habit of turning off the strips until you use them.

Making your home energy efficient as well as saving money can keep your dollars in your pocket so you don’t have to stress about making high monthly payments. But if you can afford an energy audit, remember the government is willing to give you a rebate of half of the cost or up to $150.00 if you are not able to find a company to give you an estimate for free. For more valuable information, visit www.prudentcreditrepair.ca

You Should Always Do Your Research When Taking Out Bad Credit Loans

You Should Always Do Your Research When Taking Out Bad Credit Loans

With so many people losing their homes and other valuable possessions because they cannot afford to make the payments anymore, many are finding they now have bad credit and that makes it hard to take care of business. Bad credit loans may be the answer when you’re trying to rebuild your credit, but you have to know what you’re doing if you are going to keep from getting back into the same mess you were in before. There are ways for you to get loans after bankruptcy, but you do want to be careful not to make some bad mistakes.

For one thing, you should always research before putting your signature to the bottom of that piece of paper agreeing to pay so much a month for so many months. Once you have made the pledge to do so and have the cash in hand it is too late to turn back. That is why you have to do everything you can to make sure you get the best deal possible. Most of the time a person decides to take out bad credit loans is because they just cannot seem to make ends meet as it is, and the last thing you want to do is get in any deeper.

Some bad credit loans will allow you to extend the time period for repayment so that you can better manage the amount of the monthly payments. Just remember that when you do extend the payoff for a few extra months you will also be paying more in interest. It may even affect the interest rates too. Of course if you really do need the money, extending the payoff period may be your only option. One thing that you can do is to make extra payments then you can to pay it off quicker and reduce some of the interest paid. Many people do that even when they have good credit.

Most of us have seen ads for lenders telling the public about the incredible interest rates they offer. This is a great trick to get customers in the door, but many times that, is just a bait and switch tactic to bring people in so they can talk them into borrowing money. Sure they have to offer those low interest rates if they advertise them, but they usually have some kind of gimmick that allows them to actually charge a larger rate on smaller bad credit loans. Be sure to educate yourself so that you will be informed on just how far these companies can go.

For more valuable vehicle tips and information, please visit our facebook fan page and become a fan at facebook.com/prudentfinancial