How to Achieve and Maintain Perfect Credit
7 Common Traits Of Perfect Credit
Roughly one percent of the population has perfect credit, i.e., a FICO score of 850 (on a scale of 300 to 850). Folks with such a high credit score all have the following traits in common:
- Between four and six revolving accounts (this means credit cards)
- At least one “installment” tradeline (e.g., a mortgage or automobile loan) in good standing
- Several accounts around 20 years old with a long history of positive use (To get a score above 800, you need ten years of positive account history)
- No late payments (or other serious account errors) for at least the past seven years
- Very few credit inquiries (no more than 1-3 per six months)
- No derogatory notations; collections, bankruptcies, liens, judgments, etc.
- Debt levels on credit accounts of less than 35% of their overall credit limit In other words, long but sparse use of several accounts without any payment issues along the way.