Here's how to improve your credit score right away

Here's how to improve your credit score right away  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  VIEW IN BROWSER | SUBSCRIBE WED, FEB 26, 2020 YOUR WEALTH Editor's Note Those three little numbers, known as credit scores, truly have a big impact in everyone's life. Credit scores, a gauge of your creditworthiness, help lenders decide how likely you are to repay your debts and they play a significant role in your life, perhaps more than most people realize. Your credit score follows you forever and it does influence major financial situations you will make. Many people, however, mistakenly believe that a credit score only really matters when it comes to being approved for a loan or credit card, but it goes way beyond that. Your credit score actually determines a lot more than the loans (see mortgage) you can get and the interest rates you pay. Insurers use credit scores to set premiums for auto and homeowners coverage. Landlords use them to decide who gets to rent their apartments. Credit scores determine who gets the best cell-phone plans and who has to make bigger deposits to get utilities. On a scale between 300 and 850, the higher your credit score is, the higher the possibility lenders will take a gamble on you. That's why it's so important to build and maintain good credit. To do this, follow some basic rules: Pay your bills on time; be sure you're not using up more than 30% of your available credit at any given time; reduce your credit card balance; diversify your credit and slow down on opening new credit card accounts. Credit scores are complicated but smart, common-sense money management doesn't have to be. If you pay your bills on time, spend wisely and only borrowing what you need, you should see your credit score rise. For more cool stuff like this, please follow me on Twitter @jimpavia and check out CNBC's Financial Advisor Hub and CNBC + Acorns Invest in You: Ready. Set. Grow. Jim Pavia @JIMPAVIA Here's how to improve your credit score right away Generally speaking, the higher your credit score, the better off you are. But the recovery time from a missed payment or financial setback differs for everyone. Some weird tax breaks have become harder to claim How far are you willing to go to claim that aggressive tax break? Pushy taxpayers seeking obscure deductions are sometimes willing to spend years debating the matter in Tax Court. Here's how to appeal higher Medicare premiums Although most Medicare beneficiaries don't pay monthly surcharges for their coverage, more than 4 million do. Here's how to make sure you really need to pay those extra amounts. Here's how much money you give up if you don't grab your employer's 401(k) match Depending on your salary and the matching formula used by your company, your employer's contribution to your 401(k) could translate into thousands of extra dollars going toward your nest egg every year. Tax refunds are going to be delayed for filers claiming these tax credits Even if you were an early filer, you could still find yourself waiting until March to get your tax refund. That's because the IRS holds payments for people who claim the earned income or additional child tax credit. Avoid this investing mistake as coronavirus fears grip the markets As coronavirus fears send the Dow Jones Industrial Average down triple digits, there's one move you want to avoid making. Here's the mistake one behavioral finance expert says investors are most susceptible to at these times — and what you should do instead. Massachusetts finalizes its own investor protection rule. Here's what it could mean for you While the SEC is working to put a new investor protection rule in place, some complain its standards are too light. Now states are working on their own stricter standards. Last week, Massachusetts finalized its own rule. Here's what it could mean for investors. Here's how to reduce the taxes on your Social Security benefits Many retirees may be surprised to find that their Social Security benefits may be subject to federal income taxes. But there are ways to keep the rate at which you are taxed on that income down, if you're strategic about how you take your income. Sure, the money's great, but young people get a lot more than cash when they run a successful side hustle From confidence to learning about taxes, marketing and bookkeeping, youths can gain much more than money when they learn to run their own successful side hustle. Nothing enrages the bears like the Beat 'n Raise Shuffle "It's one of the most beguiling dances we do here on Wall Street everyone knows all the steps even if they don't know they know 'em ..." CONTRIBUTORS Sharon Epperson @sharon_epperson Josh Brown @ReformedBroker Unsubscribe Manage Newsletters Terms of Service Join the CNBC Panel   Digital Products Feedback Privacy Policy CNBC Events   © 2020 CNBC LLC. All rights reserved. A property of NBCUniversal. 900 Sylvan Avenue, Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632 Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes. Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes and Market Data and Analysis. Data also provided by THOMSON REUTERS