The book begins by eshbtlisaing the importance of a good credit score. While the example that demonstrates this is obviously fictional, it is still a sobering reminder that the cost of credit is something that we usually do not consider when making a purchase.- - - - - - - -I think of myself as a fairly informed consumer, and yet, I learned some new things from this book.Some key nuggets:# a payment normally has to be at least 30 days overdue before a creditor reports it to the bureaus, so you can probably stop worrying about that utility bill that you forgot to mail in until a week after it was due.# Not all debt is equal. You should pay down debt on cards that are closer to the maximum credit limit on that card. In particular, your balance should not exceed 10-30% of your total credit limit.# Lenders usually report your balance on the closing date for an account to the credit rating agencies. So even if you pay off your credit cards every month, the balance on your card on that reporting day is what affects your credit score. You should try to pay off your balance a few days before the closing date to ensure that you have more head room between your balance and your max credit limit.# Don't close your oldest credit accounts. This is because the age of your oldest account and the average age of all your accounts affects your final score.- - - - - - - -On a very subjective level, I found the general level of advice in the book to be fairly ordinary. For example, while its hard to argue with advice like: Don't raid your retirement accounts, Keep a rainy day fund, Buy only as much house as you need, and Pay off your credit card balances; its still hard to think of this as anything but common wisdom.However, what I considered off-topic digression for a book titled Your Credit Score , may just as easily be seen by others as providing a holistic perspective on credit.- - - - - - - -The must read chapters of this book are chps. 4 and 5 both of which give you invaluable tips on how to tune up your credit score. This is where the heart of this book can be found.Happy Reading!- Damodar

fF3wx4I2 May 10 2014 2:53pm FLAG