Keep your credit score as high as possible!">

As a lawyer practicing in the United States of America, and dealing with credit issues in real estate transactions, business transactions and bankruptcy problems, credit is usually a major concern. In order to borrow as cheaply as possible, I am constantly advising people to keep their credit score as high as possible and try to push it up a notch whenever there is a chance. It is most important that you pay your bills on time in order to have a perfect payment history. One way of doing this in the modern world is automating your payments online. The second most important item with respect to your credit score is to make sure that you keep balances on credit cards and other revolving accounts below fifty percent (50%) of your credit limit. The lower the better. Never allow old cards to go dormant, but rather charge something even if it's just buying an ice cream once a month. When there is no activity, it lowers your score. So obviously, don’t open new accounts unless you are going to use them. Further when you are shopping for a car or a new mortgage it is not a good idea to allow every sales guy to run a credit report on you. Believe it or not, that just lowers your credit score.

Finally, it would not be a bad idea to request a free copy of your credit report from each of the three (3) major credit-reporting agencies at www.annualcreditreport.com. Study those reports and if there are any errors, then get them corrected immediately. Its also a good idea to request your free credit report in order that you can make sure there is no credit fraud involved with respect to your credit.