If your school or organization has any interest in our FINANCIAL LITERACY (IN-PERSON) PRESENTATIONS, please contact us for more information.

At this time, we are primarily focusing on students in grades 1 through 12.  Presentations will include (but is not limited to) mindset, credit, savings, money management, loans, credit cards, investments, real estate, and business start-ups.  These categories will be simplified, compressed, and customized in for each grade level to allow for easy learning and information absorption. 

 Email:

 info@LENDiPiTY.com

 Phone:

 917-200-7683

Personal Credit

Top Factors that affect personal credit

While the exact criteria used by each scoring model varies, here are the most common factors that affect your credit scores.

• Payment history. Payment history is the most important ingredient in credit scoring, and even one missed payment can have a negative impact on your score. Lenders want to be sure that you will pay back your debt, and on time, when they are considering you for new credit. Payment history accounts for 35% of your FICO® Score, the credit score used by most lenders.
• Amounts owed. Your credit usage, particularly as represented by your credit utilization ratio, is the next most important factor in your credit scores. Your credit utilization ratio is calculated by dividing the total revolving credit you are currently using by the total of all your revolving credit limits. This ratio looks at how much of your available credit you’re utilizing and can give a snapshot of how reliant you are on non-cash funds. Using more than 30% of your available credit is a negative to creditors. Credit utilization accounts for 30% of your FICO® Score.
• Credit history length. How long you’ve held credit accounts makes up 15% of your FICO® Score. This includes the age of your oldest credit account, the age of your newest credit account and the average age of all your accounts. Generally, the longer your credit history, the higher your credit scores.
• A Credit Mix.  People with top credit scores often carry a diverse portfolio of credit accounts, which might include a car loan, credit card, student loan, mortgage or other credit products. Credit scoring models consider the types of accounts and how many of each you have as an indication of how well you manage a wide range of credit products. Credit mix accounts for 10% of your FICO® Score.
• New credit. The number of credit accounts you’ve recently opened, as well as the number of hard inquiries lenders make when you apply for credit, accounts for 10% of your FICO® Score. Too many accounts or inquiries can indicate increased risk, and as such can hurt your credit score. Published by Experian

We Need Solid Credit To Live Our Best Lives

Our credit is rated by how we’ve paid (or have not paid) our bills, many businesses, landlords, mortgage companies, banks, utility providers, and even employers—use our credit to predict your future. When you need to borrow money, finance an item, or set up certain services, your payment history will be checked.
Our lives are becoming more dependent on credit to make purchases and financial decisions. A good credit score is used for more than just getting a credit card or funding. Credit scores demonstrate your history of paying your debts to entities that lend money or provide services.
Due to certain circumstances, many people are not able to pay their debts. At the same time, general living expenses reduce our paychecks. Lenders and businesses have a good reason to insist you have good credit before providing products or services on credit. They have to prove you can pay back or they sometimes use your credit to determine your character. Our credit should not and does not define who we are, but many automated underwriting systems, algorithms, and people make that determination for us
Employers will run credit checks to see if you can be trusted with their company’s finances or assets. If you have an unstable financial and credit history, you may run into challenges while seeking employment.

Can Credit Affect Where We Live?
Buying a house? Mortgage lenders, brokers, loan officers, etc. want to know that you will not default on your mortgage. If your credit is considered way under average, lenders will consider it too risky to give you a mortgage loan.
If you’re approved for a mortgage, your credit score dictates your interest rate. Interest rates directly impact your monthly mortgage payment amounts and closing costs.
You may not currently be interested in buying a house, but your credit is still important. Landlords also use your credit to decide who they will allow into their apartments. An apartment rental can be seen as a loan through some people’s eyes, and landlords want to be paid their rent.

Auto Loans
Most of us do not have the money to buy a vehicle out right and cover living expenses at the same time. This is why we apply for auto loans. Your credit profile determines whether you are qualified, the loan size, and the interest rate. If you have a higher credit rating you qualify for larger loan amounts with lower rates.
Low credit scores limit your choices. A hand full of lenders will work with you if you have low credit—but will charge a much higher interest rate on your auto loan. A higher interest rate will significantly increase your monthly car note. This raises the total amount you pay over time on the note or installment loan.

Employers
An employer will conduct credit checks as part of the hiring process. Most employers will only check credit reports and not credit scores. Some states or counties prohibit employers from using credit reports. If you do not demonstrate financial responsibility, an employer might not hire you.
An employer might believe your debt is too high for the salary being offered. Some employers will check your credit report before giving a promotion or raise, especially for financial positions and executive positions.

Living Expenses
Your credit is even needed to establish utility services. Most electric companies contend that you’re borrowing electric service. Before your utilities are turned on, they will check your credit profile. Services that normally conduct credit checks, are cable, telephone, water, gas, electric, and cell phone service providers.

Business Credit Cheat Sheet

Building business credit allows for funding without using your social security number. Some inexperienced individuals say it’s not possible to do get funding without using your personal credit or social security number, but this is not true- we’ve done it ourselves. It takes a little longer than our personal credit booster program, but it can be done and it is needed if you are serious about your business.

Some business owners don’t realize that their business can have its own credit profile. Truth be told, your business may have its own credit history and credit scores, which are created with specific business credit-scoring models that are different from personal credit scoring models
Business credit works similar to personal credit, but is completely separate from your personal credit. Once you build up your business credit, it can help your business qualify for better financing, pay less for insurance, and it may be important if you’re trying to attract investors or negotiate with potential vendors. Business credit is important because it can impact how other institutions work with your business. Utilization doesn’t work the same as it does on personal credit as it does on business credit. Some people offset their personal debt by sliding it over to the business’s credit. Business can credit can directly influence:

• Ability to qualify for financing
• Loan terms, rates, and leases
• Insurance premiums
• How you handle your personal finances vs your business finances and are you able to separate the two.
• An easier business/personal tax filing

Look at your business credit as having another you or a twin. You can you use personal credit cards and business credit cards to fuel your business. You’re doubling your potential money power- if that’s the route you want to take.
The three main business credit bureaus are:

• Dun & Bradstreet
• Equifax Business
• Experian Business

How is business credit built?
Incorporate your business (C corporation or S corporation, INC.) or get a limited liability company (LLC). You can run a business as a sole proprietor, but you won’t be able to build that separate business credit because there’s no separation between the business name and the owner.
Also apply for an Employer Identification Number (EIN) or a tax ID.
Next step is to open business bank accounts in the business’s name.
Get a business phone line (Not your personal number). You’ll also want to make sure it’s listed in public directories like 411. If you don’t want to pay for a dedicated landline, you may be able to get by with Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) line and it may work.
Dun & Bradstreet requires you to also register for a DUNS Number. This will link your business to accounts in the Dun & Bradstreet credit system.
Dun & Bradstreet also created the Paydex Score, Their business credit scoring system that ranges from 0 to 100.
Begin to open accounts with companies that will report the account and your payments to the business credit bureaus.

• Net 30 Vendors
• Gas Cards
• Store Cards
• Credit Cards

Many factors can influence your business’s credit scores. To build good business credit, one of the most important things to do is pay all your bills on time.
To get the highest Paydex Score which is 100, you need to pay invoices an average of 30 days ahead of their due date.
Building Business credit is important especially when growing a new business. Establishing business credit is an important step for any new or seasoned business and helps you to maintain a credit history that is separate from your personal credit history.

Again, The benefits of having good business credit: separation between owners and the business, more funding options when you don’t qualify for conventional lenders programs