My Credit Plan Blog

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Al Bingham
Al Bingham

 

Al Bingham is nationally recognized for his extensive research, insight and knowledge on purchasing power, credit reports and especially FICO® credit scores. From his extensive knowledge, Al has provided commentary in over 200 television news stories for many media outlets including US News and World Report, Fortune Magazine, CNBC, CBS and ABC affiliated stations along with a host of other national and regional media.

Al would like to help you find solutions to your credit questions, and identify solutions to improve your FICO scores, which ultimately leads to an improved purchasing power – which means purchasing more for less!

Al offers his insight through the My Credit Plan blog.

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President Biden has simply blown it with cancelling student loan debt. This is just flat out wrong and its repercussions will last for generations. I see the problems with this every day and the financial devastation it has caused. This is a real mess and it all starts with the change in the law with the Affordable Care Act. How does the law with insurance coverage impact student loans and now Biden's proposal to cancel its debt? Let me explain.

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A few days ago, I did a radio interview with a nationally syndicated radio program. A question was asked about the impact as VantageScore would no longer count medical collections in their credit score. The hosts thought this would be a big change. To the surprise of the hosts, I told them, “It doesn’t matter.” Why?

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Congress is on the verge of passing the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. In this bill, it levies over $700 billion in new taxes and increase spending over $500 billion. Then it puts $200 billion towards “Deficit Reduction.” However, there is a lot of questionable spending. Part of this legislation includes $4 Billion for “A Study on Cow Burping.”  Not joking.

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Equifax® admitted to providing inaccurate FICO® Scores from March 17, to April 6, 2022 from a coding error. How did this impact you as a consumer? If you bought a home or a new car, the impact could cost you a lot of money.

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More and more consumers are seeing that they have to exit Experian’s Boost program because it is lowering their FICO credit scores? Why?

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When shopping for a home, your realtor will tell you to go get qualified. This could be a mistake, depending how long it takes you to find a house. Mortgage loan officers never discuss this with new borrowers. But, it is something that can come back and cost you a lot of money.

The price of automobiles over the last 18 months has skyrocketed – some over 50% in value – with the slowdown in auto manufacturing along with some other factors. However, a change is happening that could bring a lot of cars on the market. With a slowing economy, that could mean more opportunities for consumers looking to purchase a new auto.

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As the Federal Reserve raises its interest rates, the impact to the rest of the economy is yet to be determined. However, one area that will have a profound impact is the national debt at $30.5 trillion. The cost of borrowing money will become much more expensive. It is not just the increasing cost of personal borrowing that is impacted, but also the future impact on other programs such as Social Security and Medicare.

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Nicolas Vega, a business reporter at CNBC, misled thousands of consumers by his recent article that credit utilization ratio makes up 30% of your FICO® credit scores. His statements are incorrect, inaccurate, and misleading. There are several other debt-related factors that have an impact on FICO credit scores.

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Millions of consumers have missed payments on loans and their credit rating has taken a deep dive. The feeling is all-too-often overwhelming. Where do you start to try and rehabilitate a poor credit rating?