What's Happening
10 minutes ago

TikTok-Parent ByteDance, Now Nvidia's Largest Asian Chip Customer, Races Ahead Of Alibaba And Baidu To Dominate China's Generative AI Market: Report

benzingabenzinga.com
12 minutes ago

Palantir's Shyam Sankar Says AI The New Frontier In Defense — Reflects On Possible Pentagon Rule Under Trump As Stock Soars

benzingabenzinga.com
35 minutes ago

Amazon Shareholders Propose Adding Bitcoin To Treasury For 'Best' Long-Term Interest, Cite Michael Saylor's MicroStrategy As Example

benzingabenzinga.com
1 hour ago

Why Archer Aviation Stock Sank This Week

foolfool.com
1 hour ago

Why Rocket Lab Stock Sank This Week

foolfool.com
1 hour ago

Apple Faces $1.2B Lawsuit Over Child Sexual Abuse Material Detection On iCloud — Tech Giant Says, 'Urgently And Actively Innovating'

benzingabenzinga.com
1 hour ago

Why BigBear.ai Stock Skyrocketed This Week

foolfool.com
2 hours ago

Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin Reverse After Advances: BTC Records Historic Weekly Close While Analyst Paints $6K Target For ETH

benzingabenzinga.com
2 hours ago

Donald Trump Shifts Stance On Jerome Powell, Says No Immediate Plans To Replace Fed Chair: 'I Don't Think So'

benzingabenzinga.com
2 hours ago

Why SoundHound AI Stock Skyrocketed This Week

foolfool.com
2 hours ago

Elon Musk's Mom Maye Says She Likes To 'Sit In On Meetings' With Her Son And Ramaswamy, Says 'Wealthy' And 'Billionaire' Are Degrading Words

benzingabenzinga.com
3 hours ago

Bashar Al-Assad And His Family Granted Asylum By Russia: Kremlin Source Says 'Always Spoken In Favor of Political Settlement'

benzingabenzinga.com
4 hours ago

Should You Buy Palantir Stock Before Dec. 13?

foolfool.com
4 hours ago

2 Stocks Down 63% and 72% to Buy Right Now

foolfool.com
5 hours ago

Prediction: This Artificial Intelligence (AI) Company Will Be Acquired in 2025

foolfool.com
6 hours ago

Apple Eyes Sony Partnership For Game-Changing Vision Pro Upgrade

benzingabenzinga.com
7 hours ago

This Analyst Says Bitcoin Could Reach $200K By End of 2025

benzingabenzinga.com
7 hours ago

Musk-Altman Rivalry Intensifies With Trump's Appointment of David Sacks

benzingabenzinga.com
7 hours ago

22% Of People Think 'Net Worth' Only Applies To The Rich – Here's The Average Net Worth And How To Calculate Yours

benzingabenzinga.com
7 hours ago

After an Incredible 578% Run, Will This Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock Dazzle in 2025?

foolfool.com

3 Simple Steps I Took To Reach an 800 Credit Score

A young adult pumps their fist in celebration while going over paperwork and using a laptop at home.

Image source: Getty Images

Your credit score might seem like a complicated subject. Several factors go into it, and they’re not the most self-explanatory.

As confusing as credit scores can be, building credit is fairly simple. It also has huge financial benefits. You’ll be able to get the best credit cards, you’ll pay lower interest rates on loans, and you’ll be more likely to qualify for rental housing. In most states, good credit could even save you money on car insurance.

Like everyone, I had to build my credit from the ground up. I eventually reached an 800 credit score through a few key steps.

1. I’ve always paid my credit card bill on time

Your credit score is a measure of how trustworthy you are when borrowing money. If you have a high credit score, it’s a sign to lenders you’re likely to pay back credit cards and loans. So it’s no surprise that your payment history is the most important factor in your credit score.

Credit card and loan payments (or non-payments) get reported on your credit history every month. Every on-time payment is good for your credit score. Other bills usually don’t get reported, although they could be if the account becomes delinquent.

I’ve kept my payment history spotless. Now, to clarify, a payment is only reported as late once it’s at least 30 days past due. If you miss a credit card payment, but you pay it a week later, that’s still considered an on-time payment on your credit history. Although it’s best to pay by the due date, there is some wiggle room there.

A perfect payment history could already be enough for a good credit score. And if you have good credit, it’s worth getting a card with the benefits you deserve. Click here to see our picks for the best cash back cards with rates of up to 6% back and welcome offers worth $200 or more.

2. I’ve regularly increased my total credit

My credit limits have gone up quite a bit over the years. When I got my first credit card, it had a $500 limit. As I built credit, I applied for new cards and requested credit limit increases on the cards I already had. I now have over $200,000 in total credit across all my cards.

Having that much credit helps my score because of a factor called credit utilization. This is the second-most important factor after payment history. It’s calculated by dividing your credit card balances by your credit limits. Have $5,000 in balances and $10,000 in total credit? Your credit utilization is 50%.

The lower your credit utilization is, the better. If you can keep it below 20% to 30%, that’s good for your credit.

I don’t spend anywhere near my total credit. But by having so much, it keeps my credit utilization low. Even if my combined card balances were $10,000, I’d still be at less than 5% credit utilization.

3. I started using credit at a young age

The amount of time you’ve been using credit is a factor in your credit score. It also ties into your payment history. Making on-time payments for 10 years does much more for your credit than making on-time payments for 10 months.

I got my first credit card when I was 19. My total credit history is even longer than that, because my father added me to one of his cards as an authorized user when I was a teen. By now, I’ve built up a long credit history to demonstrate that I’m trustworthy.

You can’t go back in time. Even if you could, there would be more profitable moves than opening a credit card a few years earlier.

But if you haven’t done so already, you can start building your credit history now. You’ll thank yourself in a couple of years, when you have excellent credit and all the benefits that come with it. If you’re not sure which cards you can get, check out our list of the best starter credit cards that don’t require any credit history.

How to get an 800 credit score

Anyone can get a high credit score, and you don’t need to do anything complicated. What’s most important is paying bills on time. Keeping your credit utilization low is another key credit habit. You can do this by increasing your total credit when possible, but also aim to pay off your credit cards in full every month. It’s good for your credit utilization, and it keeps you out of expensive credit card debt.

Credit history is trickier, since there are no shortcuts there. The best move you can make is to have at least one credit card that you use regularly. Building up your credit history, combined with on-time payments and low credit utilization, will have you well on your way to a high score.

Alert: highest cash back card we’ve seen now has 0% intro APR into 2026

This credit card is not just good – it’s so exceptional that our experts use it personally. It features a 0% intro APR for 15 months, a cash back rate of up to 5%, and all somehow for no annual fee!

Click here to read our full review for free and apply in just 2 minutes.

We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers.
Motley Fool Money does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from Motley Fool Money is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Related Posts

It’s hard to believe, but we’re just a few weeks away from 2025, and that means the clock is ticking on 2024 required minimum distributions

Image source: Upsplash/The Motley Fool The economic fallout of COVID-19 continues to haunt American house hunters. In 2021, while most of us were still wearing

Image source: The Motley Fool/Upsplash So, you bought your home before the pandemic, or maybe you just had a remarkable down payment and now you’ve

Social Security is a lifeline for millions of older adults, and even small changes to the program can have a direct impact on your monthly