Your Credit Score, Your Money & What's at Stake - How to Improve the 3-Digit Number That Shapes Your Financial Future (Electronic book text)

This is the eBook version of the printed book. If the print book includes a CD-ROM, this content is not included within the eBook version.In the midst of the 2008 widening financial crisis, your credit score is becoming more critical to your financial life than it's ever been. That's because lenders are suddenly making it tougher to get credit than ever before and even tougher to get the rates and terms you deserve. Now, MSNBC/L.A. Times personal finance journalist Liz Pulliam Weston has thoroughly updated her best-selling book on credit scores to cover all you need to know to maximize your score right now and save money in the process. This fully updated edition reveals the tough new realities of borrowing and credit scoring in post-crash America and shows why those realities aren't going to change any time soon. Weston rips away the mystery surrounding the industry's massive FICO 08 credit scoring overhaul, and tells you exactly how to use the new system to maximize your score. You'll find up-to-the-minute guidance on: fighting back against lenders who want to lower your limits or raise your rates...strategizing about the number of cards and the outstanding balances you should have now...bouncing back from bad credit and bankruptcy...choosing the right credit "solutions" and avoiding options that will only make things worse. Simply put, Your Credit Score, Revised and Updated Edition, offers a complete, up-to-the-minute action plan that you can't afford to be without.