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 Discover):

"Credit scores are comprised of various criteria that make up your credit history. Before your personal credit history (such as number of accounts, on time payments, etc.) appears in a credit bureau’s file, your credit history simply doesn’t exist yet. Once you start to get approved for credit products such as credit cards and loans, you begin to build a credit history.

Until you meet the minimum criteria, you just won’t have a score, and the credit bureaus will communicate this to lenders.

In order to receive a valid FICO^® Score, the credit report must have:

• At least one account opened for six months or more, and
• At least one account that has been reported to the credit bureau within the past six months, and
• No indication of deceased on the credit report

The minimum scoring criteria may be satisfied by a single account or by multiple accounts on a credit file."

-------------

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.