They say good things come to those who wait. But for how long?

Answer: About 6 months

Questions:

• Why do you think credit reporting agencies want you to have six months of credit history in order to give you a score? 
• After your first six months of managing credit, how do you think your ability to borrow money would compare to someone with years of credit history?
• What are some good habits you would practice in order to make sure you improve your credit score once it’s established?

Here are the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your classroom.

Behind the numbers (from Capital One):

"It generally takes three to six months to get your first credit score, although the time it takes to build good credit is different for everyone. It depends on factors like what your credit scores are now, how you’re managing debt and more.

If you’ve never had credit of any kind, there are several ways you can begin to build a credit history. This could include applying or being approved for a credit card for fair credit such as a secured credit card, becoming an authorized user on another cardholder’s account or even getting a loan. FICO says it can calculate scores for borrowers who’ve had an account open for six months. It may take even less time to get a VantageScore."

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Here's a teacher (and student) favorite activity in the Managing Credit unit, Interactive: FICO Score Simulation, where students will have opportunity to see what factors impact a credit score. 

About the Author

Ryan Wood

Ryan grew up with and maintains a love for learning. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay with a degree in Business Administration and worked in sports marketing for a number of years. After living in Texas, Colorado, Tennessee, and Minnesota, the call of education eventually brought Ryan back to his home state of Wisconsin where he was a Business and Marketing teacher for three years. In his free time he likes to spend time with his wife and daughter, play basketball, read, and go fishing. Now with NGPF, Ryan is excited to help teachers lead the most important course their students will ever take.