Hi friends, thanks for downloading the Money Girl Podcast. I'm Laura Adams, the author of Money Girls Smart Moves to Grow Rich.

If you're like most people, you want squeaky clean credit, so you can borrow money at low interest

rates and pay less for insurance and security deposits.

While it's important to focus on factors that raise your credit scores, it's also

important to know what has absolutely no effect on them, so you don't sweat the small

stuff. Here are nine factors that can't hurt or help your credit scores.

Factor number one, your personal information.

Information like your name, current and previous addresses,

Social Security number and birth date are included on your credit report

with each of the three nationwide credit reporting agencies

which are Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. nationwide credit the information that's used to calculate your credit scores includes

account information like payment activity on your loans and credit cards

public information like a recorded tax lien or bankruptcy,

and inquiries from lenders in response to your application for new credit.

That means your marital status, gender, race, education level, and age are not used in any way to determine

your credit rating.

Factor number two changes to your income.

You may be surprised to know that your income isn't included on your

credit report and therefore earning less has no negative effect on your credit

scores as long as you continue to pay your bills on time.

Of course, losing your job or business could severely affect your ability to do that.

Even receiving unemployment or another type of public assistance will not hurt your credit scores.

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