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There are so many things throughout your life that depend on good credit. It seems that a lot of the younger generation just does not understand how very important good credit is. When the time comes to buy a house or that new mini-wan to haul the kids around in and you can't get approved for credit, then you will realize how important good credit is.

My wife and I have worked very hard over our forty year plus marriage to keep good credit and always pay our bills on time and try to pay a little more than what was asked. There were a few times when we had to use the Nipsy Russell technique and pay our Visa with our Master Card, but it has sure paid off over the years. We try not to use credit cards at all and if we do we pay the full balance off each month. I am not sure if the current economic situation keeps up that we will be able to much longer though. If they continue to give everything to the illegals it makes it hard on us. By having good credit our interest rates on the credit cards we do use is half what most peoples are.

When we went to buy our retirement house last year we were able to lock in a 5.75% 30 year fixed rate loan on a really nice big house that our kids and grandkids can stay overnight with us. Our oldest daughter is paying almost 18% on her mortgage because of her bad credit in the past. I think she realizes now that Daddy wasn't so dumb after all. My credit score was 794 and my wife's was 812. The only reason mine was lower is that I signed for one of the kids to buy a car and they were late ONE month. That is the only blemish on my credit report. That was not my bill but it affected my credit report.

Just about anything you do now days is affected by your credit report be it bad or good. If you are applying for any kind of a job that involves the handling of money in anyway, a bad credit report or evidence of money problems will very likely keep you from getting the job.

Try to buy any big ticket item with bad credit and you will encounter big problems. Either your credit application will not be approved or they will approve it but the interest rate will be 20% plus. A lot of furniture stores have their own credit cards and offer a five or ten percent discount if you use their card but they just add that discount on to the interest rate. They sucker you in to buying and then charge you 25-28% interest.

All these banks and credit outfits work together too. If you have a late payment at one place, they let everybody know and then your interest goes up at other places too. It is a viscious circle if you once get trapped in it.

The importance of good credit in today's world cannot be over stressed. With the situation with the economy and all these stimulus packages and all the national debt, it is going to be hard for the people with good credit to get money and if your credit is bad....forget it. I preach all the time to my kids and grandkids about the importance of saving and having good credit. Sometimes I think I am getting through but then at other times, well I don't know.

Learn more about this author, Bill Whitney.
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