credit

Credit Management in the 21st Century

In today’s world, good credit is a necessity. Today, our credit score affects much more than our ability to buy a house or finance a car. Our credit score can also affect our insurance premium, our ability to rent an apartment, and even our ability to get a job.

Careers and businesses end, but the need to borrow remains.

We spend much of our adult lives working, borrowing, and buying. A good credit score is our ally along the way. It retains its importance when we retire. 

Retirees should do everything they can to maintain their credit rating. A FICO score of 700 or higher is useful whether an individual works or not. 

Consumers may be at risk for many years.

How long should you worry about identity theft in the wake of the Equifax hack? The correct answer might turn out to be “as long as you live.” If your personal data was copied in this cybercrime, you should at least scrutinize your credit, bank, and investment account statements in the near term. You may have to keep up that vigilance for years to come. 

Cybercrooks are sophisticated in their assessment of consumer habits and consumer memories. They know that eventually, many Americans will forget about the severity and depth of this crime – and that could be the right time to strike. All those stolen Social Security and credit card numbers may be exploited in the 2020s rather than today. Or, perhaps these criminals will just wait until Equifax’s offer of free credit monitoring for consumers expires.