Deep Dive on Credit Reports, Scores, and Their Real-World Impact

All the Hacks with Chris Hutchins

Chris Hutchins

Business, Education, Investing, Society & Culture, Places & Travel, Self-improvement

4.7 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 2 April 2025

⏱️ 66 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

#221: The ultimate guide to credit reports and scores—how they’re calculated, what affects them, and proven ways to improve them. Specially, I'll cover how opening lots of credit cards impacts your credit. You'll also learn how to check your credit reports and scores for free, dispute errors, understand lender scoring models, protect your financial health, and more. Link to Full Show Notes: https://chrishutchins.com/credit-reports-credit-scores Partner Deals Superhuman: Free month of the fastest and best email with code ALLTHEHACKS Upwork: Free job posting to find, hire, and pay top freelance talent Fabric: Affordable term life insurance for you and your family MasterClass: Learn from the world's best with 15% off Copilot: Free 2 months access to my favorite personal finance app with code HACKS2 DeleteMe: 20% off removing your personal info from the web For all the deals, discounts and promo codes from our partners, go to: chrishutchins.com/deals Resources Mentioned Credit Bureaus Equifax Experian TransUnion Free Credit Report: AnnualCreditReport.com Credit Monitoring: Credit Karma | Experian Credit Reporting Agencies Innovis Chex Clarity Services National Consumer Telecom & Utilities Exchange Early Warning Consumer Report LexisNexis Free FICO Scores: myFICO | Experian X Post on Couple’s Credit Card Journey International Credit Data: Nova Credit Business Credit Scores Equifax Business Experian Dun & Bradstreet LexisNexis Business Credit Data: Small Business Financial Exchange Article: Understanding Business Credit Scores ATH Podcast Ep #78: Action List: Everything You Can Do To Protect Your Identity, Accounts, Credit and Family Leave a review: Apple Podcasts | Spotify Email for questions, hacks, deals, and feedback: [email protected] Full Show Notes (00:00) Introduction (02:03) Quick Background of the Credit Report Industry (04:54) What’s on Your Credit Report (06:45) Soft vs. Hard Inquiries (10:04) How to Request Your Credit Report for Free (10:59) Filing for Disputes (12:37) Freezing Your Credit, Fraud Alerts, and Credit Monitoring (18:46) Credit Reporting Agencies (24:06) How to Remove Your Personal Information Online (26:24) Quick Overview of Credit Scores (29:36) How Credit Scores Are Calculated (35:33) FICO Score vs. Vantage Score (38:12) Upcoming (Big) Changes to Credit Scores (40:27) Where to Find Your Credit Scores (42:00) Analyzing Chris' Credit Scores (46:59) Two Main Factors That Impacted Chris’ Credit Score (48:58) How the Points & Miles Game Impacts Credit Scores (53:12) The Impact of Closing a Credit Card (56:36) Ways to Improve Your Credit Score (59:21) Adding an Authorized User to Your Credit Card (1:01:59) How to Leverage Your International Credit Score (1:02:53) Quick Overview of Business Credit Scores Connect with Chris Newsletter | Membership | X | Instagram | LinkedIn Editor’s Note: The content on this page is accurate as of the posting date; however, some of our partner offers may have expired. Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Your credit report and score have so much information in it and they impact how much you pay for
0:07.4	everything. From your home to your car, it could even impact what job you can get. Even worse,
0:13.3	there are over 20 different models being used to calculate your credit score. So if you don't know
0:17.5	which models being used and how credit scores actually work, it can really
0:21.3	cost you money. But good news, today is a masterclass on credit reports and scores, and we're
0:27.0	going to go deep on how these numbers are generated, how to improve them, why they matter,
0:31.3	how opening cards, closing cards, and earning points plays into it all, and I'm going to
0:35.7	share what I learned from checking over 42 different versions of my own credit score and so much more. If you're new here, I'm Chris Hutchins.
0:43.6	I learned so much doing the research for this episode, so I really hope you enjoy it. And if you
0:47.9	do, please share it with a friend or leave a comment or review. And if you want to keep upgrading
0:52.5	your life, money, and travel,
0:58.0	click follow or subscribe. Now let's get into it right after this.
1:04.5	This episode is brought to you by Superhuman. I've used Superhuman for years, and it's hands down the best way to do email, assuming you value your time, which I absolutely assume you do.
1:10.1	That's because Superhuman is the
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	...

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