How is your Credit Score Calculated

How is it calculated?

FICO score is calculated from 5 different financial ingredients based on your personal credit history. It's important to note, age, sex and race are not factors.

Here's the breakdown:

35% - Payment history. Put simply, "have you paid your bills onetime reliably over time?"

30% - Amount of credit available. "If you have a lot of credit available but not used, that's a good thing," says Greene. The lower the balance on your credit, the better.

15% - Length of credit history. The longer you can show you're a reliable risk, the better it is for your score.

10% - New credit. Don't open a lot of credit suddenly. "When we see many new credit instruments being opened in a small period of time - that's a concern," Says Greene.

10% - Type of credit used. It's helpful if you have different types of credit - a credit card, an auto loan, a mortgage etc.