How to Achieve the Highest Possible Credit Score

The highest possible credit score is 850. Few people have ever received this credit score due to the complexities of the rating system. You probably will never see 850, and you don’t need to because any score over 780 will likely get you the best rates on any loan or credit card but if it’s just a point of pride for you, read on. FICO claims payment history, credit utilization and length of credit history are some of the most important factors in building up your credit score. Here are three quick tips to start you on your journey to the highest possible credit score.

1. Pay your bills on time

Even just one late payment will leave a blemish on your credit report. One late payment will not hurt your score terribly but if you want to see those three magic numbers on your credit report you need to strive for perfection so never miss a payment.

Insider Tip: Life happens and you may miss a payment someday. If you have never paid late before, you can call your bank and ask them to remove the negative mark from your credit report, and they may be willing to do this for you.

2. Keep your debt extremely low

Try to keep your debt under 10% of your available credit limit. If you have two credit cards with combined limits of $20,000, then you should be keeping your debt under $2,000 at any given time. The lower, the better.

Insider Tip: You may not know what day of the month the credit card issuer reports your card balances to the credit bureaus, and this does not necessarily happen at the most convenient time every month. For example, if your payment date is the 15^th of the month and the credit card company reports your balances on the 14^th of the month then they may be reporting higher balances every month because they are reporting it before you pay it. Some people make two payments every month to mitigate the risk of this happening. It may seem like a small step, but it can go a long way on your journey to the elusive 850.

3. Do not open new lines of credit.

The length of credit history is extremely important to your goal of achieving a perfect 850, and it is very easy to screw up here if you are not careful. The two most important things to remember are never close your oldest accounts and never open new accounts unless it is necessary for some reason.

If you have had one of your credit cards for 10 or 20 years or even more, can you imagine what would happen to your average length of credit history if you were to close one of these accounts? Also, make sure you use the card occasionally because some banks will close an account without informing you if it goes unused for extended periods of time.

You can use a free tool like Credit Karma to keep an eye on your score without paying a penny.

These quick tips were by no means exhaustive, but we feel that they are the three most important tips to follow if you want to achieve the highest possible credit score.