End of Year Money “Musts”

The year is coming to a close and soon you’ll be making resolutions for next year. If your goals involve moving, getting a new job, or buying a car, you’ll want to take a look at your credit report and FICO® Score. Both are reviewed for those purposes and monitoring them is like a health checkup for your finances. Better yet, they are both free and easy to do.

Federal Law requires each of the three nationwide credit reporting agencies to give you a free credit report every 12 months, if you request it. Operated jointly by the three major credit bureaus, annualcreditreport.com is the website recommended by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) as the only authorized website for free credit reports.

But you don’t need to order reports from all three agencies at the same time. We recommend spreading them out so you can better spot changes or discrepancies throughout the year. For example, check Equifax at the beginning of the year, TransUnion mid-year, and Experian at the end of the year.

Every quarter, 1st United provides our members with their FICO® Score, free. It appears on your statement and includes the top key factors that affected your score that quarter. 1st United believes in helping members achieve strong financial health. FICO® Score is just one tool that will help you choose credit wisely, establish repayment goals, and accomplish more.

To see your score, take a look at the statement that you received in the mail or view your statement online.

Finishing off the year knowing your credit is in order can give you peace of mind going into the new year, especially if your goals involve loans or financing. If you are unsure how to read your credit report, or want guidance on how to improve your credit, help is available. 1st United has partnered with BALANCE, a financial education and counseling service, who can help our members with all these tasks, for free. If you’d like to meet with BALANCE, please call them at (888) 456-2227.