CREDIT » Credit Scores & Reports

When it comes to money, it seems like everyone’s an expert. Most financial gurus you see or read about are often experts in one area or another, but they’re seldom experts in everything. That means it’s up to you to determine which advice is sound–and which advice you should ignore.

To help you out, however, here’s a list of commonly heard financial advice that ranges from illogical to downright dangerous:

One consumer struggles to build credit without dinging her credit score and Credit Karma gives some honest recommendations:

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Anyone with a Facebook profile is probably all too aware of the thousands of applications available for use on the site. Even if you’re not one of the Farmville or Mafia Wars addicts who flood friend feeds with annoying updates, you are definitely friends with someone who is. Well, some of the most popular apps currently in use have not only been sucking up precious time and filling up feeds, but transmitting user IDs to outside companies unbeknownst to their users.

Obtaining a high credit score is an objective that was handed to consumers decades ago. In order to qualify for just about any kind of loan, including a credit card, car financing or mortgage, you need to show that you can handle the credit extended to you and pay it back on time.

The closer you are to the perfect score of 850, the better your chances are of qualifying for just about anything you want. But is it even possible obtain this score, or is the number like Big Foot–supposedly real but no one ever sees it? To get some answers, let’s explore the 850 credit score and just how possible it is to see it on your credit report.

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You might recognize the name Todd Davis from LifeLock commercials and billboards. In fact, you may also recognize his Social Security number from the same places. Davis is the CEO of LifeLock identity theft protection, who demonstrated his unwavering loyalty to the product by publicizing his SSN in order to prove how fail-safe it was.

Anyone who has taken a few (or more) hits to their credit score knows that getting a credit card is near impossible. It’s usually recommended that anyone struggling to obtain a card work on repairing their credit before sending out any more applications.

One of the ways you can do this is with a secured credit card. However, not all secured card payments are reported to credit bureaus and therefore, may not help you build your credit. You have to take the time to find the appropriate card, make regular transactions and slowly improve your credit report over the course of about a year. Then you can graduate to a regular, unsecured credit card.

Finance is a topic that the average American doesn’t know a whole lot about. Sure many of us can create a simple budget or open a savings account, but when it comes to debt management or retirement planning, we’d probably be better off consulting a professional.

Unfortunately, the services offered by financial professionals don’t come cheap. A financial advisor or tax expert can charge several hundred dollars per hour. So what do you do when you need expert advice but can’t afford much more than a Google search? Here are a few ways you can get answers from a qualified person without going broke in the process:

By Casey Bond

By now, you’re probably well aware of how important your credit score is to your financial well-being and you do your best to carefully dodge all the potential threats to that precious number. Late payments, hard credit inquiries–you avoid them like the plague. It can be exhausting keeping up with it all, so is there anything at all that doesn’t affect your credit score or is every detail of your financial life fated to influence your credit in some way?

You love your brother as you do all family, but he has a less then perfect past with responsibility. After years of hard work and dedication, he has finally settled into a positive groove with a secure job, growth potential, a lovely new wife and a new sense of financial responsibility. Unfortunately, his credit history shows the damage of his past choices and he is now requesting your assistance co-signing a car loan.

Your first reaction may be to agree, but you should understand you leave your own credit open to potential risk in this situation. Before making the decision to co-sign on a loan for anyone, weigh the advantages and disadvantages of co-signing an auto loan thoughtfully first.

You may not be aware that the three credit bureaus are selling information in your credit report to lenders, credit card companies, insurance companies, telemarketers and direct mail marketers. You may also not be aware that this type of information gathering and selling is perfectly legal.

Whenever you receive a “pre-approved” or “pre-screened” offer of credit, this is because the bank or company who is offering credit to you has either pulled your credit information through a “soft inquiry,” or the credit bureau has sold your information to them as part of what’s called a “trigger lead” program.