Career Services

Financial Literacy Class - October 3 and 4 - 8:30-5:00 pm, Room 2401

Professor Nathalie Martin

Pre-Course Requirements

To take this course, you must do these things by October 2:

  1. Get copies of your credit reports and a credit score.
  2. Read the articles in the Class Links listed below. You will be asked to report on what was most useful to you.
  3. Read All Your Worth, by Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Tyagi (you can purchase the book from Professor Martin for $10.00).
  4. Track every penny spent over one week in a notebook.
  5. Save all credit card solicitations you receive starting now; bring them to class.

You must pass a pre-test on Saturday morning October 3, in order to qualify to take the course. It is based upon the above course preparations.

Credit Reports and Scores

  • The three main credit reporting companies are Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. They offer both ‘credit reports’ and ‘credit scores’ – and the two are not identical. You need to get a copy of your credit report and score from each agency. The reports are free, the score is not. Read on to find out how.
  • 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.

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, 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.

 

Class Links

 

Credit Cards

Cars

Mortgages

Investing

Overall Financial Health