The Great Recession has resulted in all sorts of record-breaking numbers - more foreclosures than ever before, more credit card defaults than ever before. And, on Monday, we added another number to this grim list: personal credit scores.
FICO, the company that created the credit score, released new data that showed Americans’ credit scores have sunk to new lows, with 43 million people scoring below 600.
When the news came out, Marketplace talked to Joan Goldwasser of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine to shed some light on the current state of personal credit.
Now we want to hear from you. How’s your credit score doing? Has a low credit score negatively affected your life? Tell Marketplace here.
I don’t have a credit score. The last few times I have been persuaded to apply for a credit card to qualify for a retail discount on my purchase, I was rejected. Each time, the reason given was : “Not enough information to determine credit rating.” With the exception of vehicles, I have paid cash for everything in the past twenty years. I have no outstanding debts except medical payments. Vehicle purchases have always been a mutually agreed to arrangement of cash down and monthly payments. I am currently making monthly payments on $900 in International long distance calls to my 15 year old son’s girlfriend. He says, she told him they were free. The long distance carrier who cut off long distance service when they suspected fraud, kindly agreed to accept payment in three equal monthly installments. I finished paying the last one in October. Thank God I don’t have credit!