Faculty
Professor Nathalie Martin
Financial Literacy - Fall 2008
Pre-Course Requirements
To take this course, you need to do these things by November 7, 2008:
1. Get copies of your credit reports and a credit score.
2. Read the articles on the Financial Literacy web site attached to my faculty page. You’ll be asked to report on what was most useful to you.
3. Read the course materials.
4. Track every penny spent over one week in a notebook
5. SAVE ALL CREDIT CARD SOLICITATIONS YOU GET BETWEEN NOW AND THE COURSE!!!
There will be a pre-test on Saturday morning, November 8, which you must pass to be eligible to take the course. It is based upon the above course preparations.
Credit Reports and Scores
Credit reports have become a staple of the American consumer debt economy as well as a central facet of most personal background investigations. You need to get a copy of your report from each agency before November 8, in order to take the financial literacy course. You also need a credit score. The reports are free, the score is not. Read on to find out how.
The three main credit reporting companies are Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. The reporting companies offer both ‘credit reports’ and ‘credit scores’ – and the two are not identical.
A credit report is a historical listing of credit and personal information, usually presented without comment. Reports show all of the participating entities who have extended or denied credit to the individual, and also show the timeliness of the individual’s repayment of his/her debt obligations. Also shown are any adverse financial judgments, collections actions and closed (i.e., ‘charged-off’) accounts.
A credit score is a point award based on the information in the credit report. Although the different reporting companies use different formulas to arrive at the score, the basic range of points is standardized, with 300 at the low negative end and 900 at the high ‘credit-worthy’ end. An individual with a credit score of 650 or higher is generally considered a decent credit risk. Variable interest rates are usually offered at an inverse ratio to an individual’s credit score. Credit offered to a married couple takes into account the reports and scores of both spouses.
Free and Fee-based Credit Report Services
To access these reports through the internet, go to AnnualCreditReport.com. You can also request your reports by phone at 1-877-322-8228 or by mail at: Annual Credit Report Request Service, PO Box 105281, Atlanta, GA, 30348-5281. Free reports do not include a credit score. You have to purchase that separately, which you can do from this site or from those listed below.
You can also just pay for both your reports and score. You can buy them from the reporting companies directly at Equifax, Experion and TransUnion, or you can use any of a large number of personal ‘credit-watch’ services. These services typically offer a variety of report options, such as one-shot reports and scores, continuous report access and automatic alerts for additions, deletions and other changes to reports. The prices vary with the services and companies. If you do a Google search of ‘credit report’ you’ll find lots and lots of choices.
NOTE: I have recently heard that only EXPERIAN gives FICO credit scores now. Getting a FICO score will be most useful to you, not some alternative form of a score.
Financial Literacy Links
We look forward to seeing you on November 8.
