Maintaining Good Credit

If you apply for a charge card, credit card, car loan, personal loan, or mortgage, your credit experience--or lack of it-- will be a major factor considered by the creditor. Your credit experience may even affect your ability to get a job or buy life insurance. A good credit rating is a valuable asset that should be nurtured and protected.

If you want a good rating, you must use credit with discretion: limit your borrowing to your capacity to repay and live up to the terms of your contracts. The quality of your credit rating is entirely up to you.

Here's what you need to know to build and maintain an excellent credit record:

Financial Calculators

Use this Credit Card Optimizer to determine the best distribution of your credit card debt. By entering your credit card balances, rates and credit limits this calculator determines which balance transfers will produce the greatest savings.

This Personal Debt Consolidation Calculator will help you determine whether debt consolidation is right for you. Enter your credit cards, auto loans and other installment loans balances by clicking on the "Enter Data" button for each category. Then change the consolidated loan amount, term or rate to create a loan that will work within your budget. Hit the "View Report" button for detailed results.

This Accelerated Debt Calculator will show you how to accelerate your debt payoff. The process is simple. Just apply a portion of your consolidated loan's monthly payment savings to the consolidated loan's balance. You can save hundreds, even thousands in interest and shave years off of your loan!

This Consolidation Loan Investment Calculator will let you see the results of paying off your debt and investing your payment savings. Hit the "View Report" button for a detailed look at your results.

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