Chris O'Shea
Checking your own score. Checking your credit report is one of the best ways to avoid identity theft, so don’t be scared away by thinking it will hurt your score. You can take a look at any time you like. And remember, you can check your report from each of the three bureaus once per year for free.
Change in pay. Your income doesn’t impact your credit score at all. You can make very little per year and still have a high score. Of course, it’s difficult to pay bills on time when you lose a job or have low income, and that would hurt your score. But rest assured that your salary does not matter.
Getting turned down for credit. While applying for a credit card will impact your score temporarily, there is no extra knock for getting denied credit.
Your personal info. As US News reports, the only personal info included in your credit report is your name, birth date, addresses and Social Security number. Your sex, race, age, marital status do not matter.
Jean Chatzky
