Participants: Yvonne Lewis (Host), Ryan Mack
Series Code: DAS
Program Code: DAS000011S
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00:01 What is money for?
00:02 Is it a helpful resource to use for good 00:05 or is the love of it the root of all evil. 00:08 Actually, it's both. 00:10 But God may have 00:11 a different definition of success. 00:13 Real success doesn't come overnight. 00:16 It takes hard work, and faithful planning. 00:20 To use your dollars well, 00:22 it takes more than a little sense. 00:27 Welcome to Dollars and Sense. 00:29 I'm Yvonne Lewis, co-host for this program, 00:32 and the primary host is Ryan Mack, 00:34 our financial literacy expert, 00:37 who has been teaching us so much stuff. 00:40 Hey, Ryan! Having a great time doing it. 00:42 Oh, man, this is exciting to me 00:46 because any time I learn something new, I get excited, 00:48 because it's just, and I know you're learning. 00:51 I know you're learning this stuff. 00:52 So we are going to be talking today about credit. 00:56 Credit, yes. 00:57 And that's super, super important, 00:59 because so many people have bad credit. 01:01 Right. 01:02 And I think it's more important 01:04 than what people realize in this day, 01:07 and in this particular economy and we'll explain why. 01:12 First, I want to just let people know 01:14 what the scripture says... 01:15 Yes. About credit. 01:16 Good. 01:18 Now this is something that there's no question 01:21 that they actually took the law, 01:23 the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 01:25 and they devised a law based on actual scripture, 01:28 and I going to show you here. 01:30 The first scripture is this one that I like to, 01:33 from Psalm 37:21. 01:36 "The wicked borrows but does not pay back, 01:38 but the righteous is generous and gives." 01:41 And so, obviously credit does just that. 01:46 It analyzes. 01:47 The Fair Isaac Corporation, they analyze, 01:52 and we'll talk about what does FICO mean? 01:54 Who was the Fair Isaac Corporation, 01:57 but they want to figure out who's righteous, 02:00 and who pays back? 02:02 And the goal of credit score is almost 02:06 a measure of your righteousness, right? 02:08 And it's from 350 to 850. 02:11 And it really says, okay, well, the higher your score, 02:14 the more righteous you are, 02:15 so, the more prone you are to pay back, 02:17 so the more easy it is to get a loan. 02:19 So now, I'm going to read 02:23 a piece of the Fair Credit Reporting Act first. 02:26 Now, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, FCRA, 02:30 it says this, that most negative items must be removed 02:35 from your credit report seven years 02:38 from the first date of delinquency. 02:40 Some exceptions to the seven-year rule 02:42 include Chapter 7, 02:44 bankruptcy filings, judgments, 02:47 money owed to or guaranteed by the government, 02:49 so there are some exceptions 02:50 but the important part of that is, 02:52 it says, most negative items must be removed. 02:56 Negative items meaning things you owe, right? 02:59 Most negative items must be removed 03:02 from your credit report seven years 03:03 from the first date of delinquency. 03:06 Now, let's go over to Deuteronomy 15:1-2. 03:10 Okay. 03:12 So, Deuteronomy 15:1-2 says, 03:16 "At the end of every seven years, 03:19 thou shalt make a release. 03:22 And this is the manner of the release: 03:25 Every creditor that lendeth ought 03:28 unto his neighbor shall release it, 03:30 he shall not exact it of his neighbor, 03:34 or his brother, 03:35 because it is called the Lord's release." 03:39 So, literally Deuteronomy 15:1-2 03:43 is the Fair Credit Reporting Act. 03:45 Wow. 03:47 This is were they derived the law from, 03:48 from the Word of Christ. 03:52 Many times individuals will say, well, it's derived. 03:55 No, no, this is the actual law. 03:57 And it's the Lord's law, the Lord's release, 04:01 and it's the law that derives our law. 04:03 Isn't it interesting how there are so many, 04:07 like if you look at the Constitution, 04:10 the Constitution is based on the law of God? 04:13 Exactly. Yeah. 04:14 It's really interesting even though... 04:16 I don't know that they necessarily intended for it 04:18 to be like that per se 04:20 because they weren't necessarily Christian 04:22 even though people think they were, 04:24 but it's interesting that, you know, God's law is, 04:29 as we've said before, said on this program, timeless. 04:35 This law applies, 04:38 this word here in Deuteronomy applies to the law. 04:41 Exactly. 04:42 And the other thing that you mentioned, 04:44 I think we should expand on that a bit, 04:46 is the integrity of a person is bound into, 04:52 if you say you're gonna, 04:54 if you buy something with credit, 04:56 with the credit card, 04:58 you're supposed to pay it back. 04:59 Right. 05:00 I mean, it's really about, again, what the Psalm says, 05:04 righteousness, right? 05:06 To be righteous is a man of his word 05:08 or a woman of her word, someone who has integrity. 05:12 They say what they're going to do and they do it. 05:14 They mean what they say and they say what they mean. 05:16 They make a promise, they don't break it. 05:19 They have honor, they have a code, and this, again, 05:23 the credit is essentially a measure of that code. 05:27 So normally, if you have a community 05:33 and the average credit score is higher in that community, 05:36 it's normally a more wealthy community 05:39 because if you just measure by a credit score, 05:41 what it's saying is that this community has practices 05:45 that says they pay back debt, they pay off things, 05:50 they pay off loans, they are more responsible, 05:52 they're paying back on time, 05:54 they have a good credit history. 05:55 So all of these are practices that are not a 100% indication 06:01 but are somewhat of an indication of where 06:03 and how an individual is doing economically 06:05 because they have the practices 06:07 that usually should translate to better economic standing 06:12 in the community. 06:13 And the reason I feel that the credit score 06:16 is one of the most important components 06:19 of financial literacy 06:21 is when you want to talk about 06:23 and introduce a term called gentrification, right? 06:26 Many times individuals think 06:28 that gentrification is more of a black thing 06:31 or a minority thing, 06:32 and gentrification is not necessarily a minority thing, 06:35 it really is just about individuals 06:37 who have a higher level of wealth, 06:40 are able to capitalize on depressed property values 06:43 in an area, 06:44 they're able to move in, and those individuals 06:47 who are there, 06:48 because there are depressed property values, 06:51 as individuals move in that have more of a means 06:54 to pay more, 06:55 property values start going back up, 06:57 and those who are living there 06:59 now can no longer afford to remain there, 07:01 so therefore, they move away. 07:03 Just kind of what happened in Harlem, isn't it? 07:05 Exactly. 07:06 Now, I mean, I was actually a... 07:09 because I was a professional 07:11 who was making a little bit more money than average, 07:14 when I moved to Brooklyn, 07:15 that's why it's not a black thing, 07:17 it's a green thing. 07:18 When I moved to Brooklyn, I'm black, 07:21 I moved into a predominately black neighborhood 07:23 but the means and economic means, 07:25 I was slightly higher than the average 07:28 so I was able to afford that exorbitant rent 07:31 of that little small, little studio apartment 07:33 that I could hardly spin a circle in 07:35 without bumping into myself, right? 07:37 So I mean, but that's what gentrification is. 07:40 So now, when you're talking about gentrification 07:43 as it relates to credit, what does that mean? 07:47 When someone who's living there, 07:49 who's in that community, 07:52 credit says, I have access to capital, 07:55 and in this economy when you're moving into a community 07:58 that has depressed property values, 08:00 where credit is not as prevalent 08:02 as it was before in this economy now, 08:04 banks are not lending as much as they once were before. 08:05 Right. 08:07 So really there are only two individuals 08:09 who are at better situation to be able to capitalize off 08:12 of depressed property values, 08:14 that is people with high levels of liquidity, 08:17 meaning have cash in their pocket, 08:19 have a lot of money, 08:20 I can go in, and I don't care about loans 08:23 and what not, I can just buy a piece of property. 08:24 And that's what a lot of investors 08:26 are doing in cities like Detroit 08:27 and areas around the country that have depressed values. 08:31 So people that have a lot of cash, investors go in 08:33 and just buy up everything, 08:35 or people that have good credit, 08:36 because now they have access to capital, 08:39 they can get loans, 08:40 so they can purchase pieces of property, 08:42 so if you're living there, and you don't have good credit, 08:45 then you're one of the ones who's saying if I'm renting, 08:49 if you wanted to buy a piece of property you couldn't 08:51 because you more than likely don't have the cash to do it, 08:54 and you couldn't buy it 08:55 because your credit is not good to do it. 08:56 So what's going to happen? You're going to be left out. 08:59 Individuals are going to be moving in 09:00 with good credit and cash 09:02 and then they'll be purchasing property around you 09:05 and what's happened is you're going to have to then leave 09:07 because the rents are going to get so high, 09:09 it's gonna get well beyond your means to afford 09:11 and you don't own anything so you can't control anything 09:14 and you're gonna have to move out, 09:15 so literally credit is one of the central components 09:19 to how our property value is, 09:22 and I mean how are our communities 09:24 are going to recover, and whether or not 09:26 they're going to look like those individuals 09:28 who are currently there versus individuals 09:31 who can afford to move there and then price out individuals 09:34 who are currently living there. 09:35 And this is not a, and I mean, a lot of individuals say, 09:39 well, you know, we should have more policy. 09:43 This isn't related to policy. 09:45 This isn't related to what the politicians are doing. 09:48 This isn't related to, and there are systemic issues, 09:51 don't get me wrong, but when it comes to credit, 09:53 this is purely related based on our own habits, 09:57 our own practices. 09:59 What we do every single day which is what makes me excited, 10:02 which gives me faith that says, 10:04 "We can make a difference by just changing 10:06 how we operate and change. 10:08 We have control over our own financial destinies 10:11 by good credit." 10:12 And I think, I had to put that definition of gentrification, 10:14 as it relates in here 10:15 because I know it's a big concern to a lot of people 10:18 in many areas all across this country, 10:21 and I think it's about that time 10:22 that we start understanding where the solutions come from. 10:25 It comes from within and that comes from 10:28 laid-out foundation from Christ. 10:30 Absolutely. 10:31 We can't blame others. Right. 10:36 One of the things that I've learned is that 10:40 when the buck stops with me, if I make a mistake, 10:44 if I mess up then it's my fault, 10:47 yet we're not discounting systemic issues, 10:50 institutionalized racism, we're not... 10:54 Those things are real. Yeah. 10:56 But there's also personal responsibility, 10:58 and when you talk about 11:00 the righteousness associated with this, 11:04 you're now talking about it's right doing, 11:08 it's the right discipline, it's the right habits. 11:12 That's what we're talking about, 11:14 so we don't want people to misunderstand 11:15 when you said this is righteousness. 11:17 We know that Christ is our righteousness. 11:20 That's the righteousness of Christ over here. 11:22 We're not talking about that. 11:24 We're talking about right doing and these discipline 11:27 and habits that have to come into play in order for us 11:31 to have integrity. 11:33 Right. Exactly. 11:34 And then the beautiful part about basing your life 11:36 on the Word is this level of righteousness 11:39 comes from the Word. 11:41 It teaches you that. That's right. 11:42 It shows you the roadmap of, 11:45 "Okay, if you want to be righteous, 11:48 this is what you do." 11:50 The wicked borrows but does not pay back. 11:52 If you want to be wicked, borrow, 11:54 and then don't pay back. 11:56 And you'll be measured 11:57 according to the worldly standard, 11:59 FICO, there as a credit, 12:02 it measures the level of wickedness 12:03 and also measures the level of righteousness. 12:06 But it also indoctrinates the Deuteronomy 12:10 inside the actual law, 12:12 this is a case where this is not, this is close 12:17 or this is something that's happenstance. 12:19 No, this is the law. Right. 12:21 This is the law of Christ that the world copied 12:25 and made it the law of the land. 12:28 And I think that we ought to just take heed 12:30 that it has to be that... 12:31 I think they're doing something right in the Bible. 12:33 Right. 12:34 To have people copy them and say, 12:36 "We're going to make them law of the land." 12:37 Absolutely. 12:38 And so I will choose to believe the law of Christ. 12:40 Amen. 12:41 So I wanted to just go over some things 12:44 of how we break down credit. 12:48 And one, what does it mean, 12:50 we talked about the importance of it. 12:52 How is it measured again? 12:54 It's the FICO, the Fair Isaac Corporation. 12:58 It's a private corporation 13:01 and they have a monopoly over essentially 13:05 how credit is being measured. 13:08 There are other measures out there called the VantageScore 13:13 but because the VantageScore is not as prevalent, 13:17 most lenders do not even use the VantageScore, 13:20 and the only point of having a credit score 13:22 is to make sure you can get a loan, 13:24 or have yourself evaluated by someone 13:26 who can give you some capital 13:29 and if Vantage is not being used by the lenders 13:32 then it kind of makes it null 13:34 and void as opposed to just may be it could be an ego boost 13:36 to say I have a bigger VantageScore 13:40 and what have you. 13:42 So the VantageScore don't necessarily look at that, 13:45 but the FICO score is very important. 13:47 And the FICO score as well as your credit report. 13:50 Now, you have access to be able to go 13:52 to annualcreditreport.com. 13:55 At least once a year for every... 13:57 You have three credit bureaus, Equifax, TransUnion, 13:59 and Experian. 14:01 Now, the way the system is set up is that 14:03 there are local credit bureaus, 14:05 many individuals don't know this 14:06 but there are local credit bureaus set up 14:08 across the country. 14:10 So whenever you pay your bill, 14:11 many of your bill providers report 14:14 to these local credit bureaus, 14:16 and these local credit bureaus and then turn around, 14:17 and sometimes the bill providers 14:19 report directly to the national credit bureaus, 14:22 but many times they'll go to these local credit bureaus 14:24 and then they report to the national credit bureaus. 14:28 This is why when you go to Equifax, TransUnion, 14:30 or Experian most of the time 14:32 you'll have different credit reports, 14:33 or credit scores. 14:35 Right. 14:36 Because sometimes this bill provider 14:38 or service provider did not report 14:40 to that local credit bureau, 14:42 and they didn't get up to the national credit bureau, 14:44 so that's why you have to check all three, 14:45 not just one. 14:47 But you get one free credit report per year 14:49 from annual credit reports, 14:50 so I urge everyone to go out to annualcreditreport.com, 14:53 and get your free credit report every single year. 14:56 And maybe even consider paying for the next one. 14:59 But we have other good sources. Yeah. 15:01 I was, I don't know where I found, 15:04 maybe on television or something 15:06 and watched the commercial 15:07 and I've tried it the Credit Karma. 15:09 Yeah. I use that. 15:11 You can get your credit report every day if you want it. 15:14 Right. 15:15 You can see what your scores are with two of the agencies, 15:20 two of the credit agencies and it's amazing 15:25 because I've watched my credit score get better 15:29 and it really wasn't good for various reasons, 15:32 it really wasn't good, 15:34 but the Lord has really helped me to bring it up 15:38 and it's much better now 15:40 and now I'm really concerned about it. 15:42 So I'm always looking on there and checking it, 15:45 seeing where it is, seeing when it went down, 15:47 why did it go down, it tells you all of that, 15:49 so I mean it's just worth it. 15:51 But there was a time when things were, 15:55 because I was self-employed, things were just really low. 15:59 Right. It happens. Yeah. 16:01 I didn't pay some debt when I started 16:03 Optimum Capital Management back in 2004. 16:07 There was a couple of years I didn't pay off some debt, 16:09 took out from credit cards, and I had some hard times. 16:14 Did your credit score go down? 16:16 Oh, yeah. It was, it was dismal. 16:18 It was back then. 16:20 I mean, that was all the days 16:21 where I literally had 12 months living expenses 16:26 and I had to take out a credit card 16:28 in order to cover the additional 16:29 after that 12 months ran out, 16:31 I had a few clients, 16:33 and as things were slowly trickling in, 16:36 I had faith in God, 16:38 and that's when 2006 or '07 rather, 16:42 I broke into Black Enterprise magazine 16:44 that gave me a good marketing boost, 16:46 and then CNN hit 2007 and '08, 16:49 and then that's when things shot up 16:50 and I paid off all my debt. 16:52 Wow. 16:53 But for those couple of years it was, 16:55 you know, cheese nips and tuna fish. 16:57 Yeah. 16:58 It was... 17:00 It was hard times, man, it was, and I remember that. 17:03 You're absolutely right, 17:04 sometimes we go through those times, 17:06 and everybody does, 17:07 no one is above that, you know. 17:09 Right, right, and there are times when, 17:12 you know, the threat will be made, 17:14 "Well, we're going to report this 17:15 to the credit agency." 17:18 I mean, if your credit rating is really low, 17:20 it's like, you know, do whatever you have to do, 17:22 but you really work against yourself. 17:25 Right. 17:26 Because that credit is so important, 17:29 that credit rating is so important, 17:31 and you are going to explain why. 17:32 Absolutely. 17:33 So the way it's broken down, 17:36 and as the Fair Isaac Corporation breaks it down, 17:38 where 35% of your FICO score 17:42 is essentially the record of you paying your bills on time. 17:46 So, your payment history. Yes. 17:48 So as you pay your bill 17:49 and if they report to a credit bureau, 17:51 now that does not always necessarily 17:53 include like a rent bill, now it is, 17:56 more and more property managers are now starting to include 18:00 or report rent payments so that individuals can now, 18:03 and many banks, I remember, Carven Make in New York, 18:06 they had a system where they allowed individuals 18:10 to have their rent payments reported 18:13 so that individuals paying rent 18:14 can now start establishing a credit history. 18:16 Nice. Which is a good service, it's very good service. 18:18 Yeah. 18:20 So, I mean, kudos to Deborah Wright 18:21 for putting that all together, a good friend of mine. 18:24 So 35% is paying your bills on time, 18:28 so using automatic bill payment, I think is key. 18:31 That has been a lifesaver for me, a lifesaver, 18:36 because for me, I don't want to think about, 18:39 okay, this bill is due on the first, 18:41 this one's due on the fifth, 18:42 this one's due on the tenth, you set it up one time 18:45 and then after that it automatically gets paid, 18:48 and that boosts your credit. 18:49 If anything that has boosted my payment history, that has. 18:53 There's a book called "The Automatic Millionaire" 18:55 it's by David Bach and I think it's a great book, 18:59 and he talks about 19:01 how millionaires are made by just automating their savings. 19:06 And when you automate your savings it, 19:09 as a financial adviser, I mean, 19:11 I used to thank God for automated savings 19:14 because that helped me work with clients 19:17 to say this puts you on this track, 19:20 where you don't have to think about it. 19:21 You can put money in your 401K, your IRA, 19:24 and all of the savings accounts automatically. 19:27 And it became just boom and so... 19:29 If you're doing as you said, 19:31 35% of paying your bills on time, 19:33 your score starts to boost up overtime. 19:34 Right. 19:36 Now, 30% of your FICO score is your balance 19:39 to your lending limit ratio. 19:41 Okay. 19:42 So if you owe $5,000 19:46 and you can borrow up to $10,000, 19:49 your balance to your lending limit ratio is 50%. 19:53 You owe five, you can borrow 10, it's 50%. 19:56 So now, if you pay down some debt, okay, 20:01 and you pay down $2,500 of that in that same scenario. 20:05 Your balance to your lending limit ratio 20:07 goes from 5,000 to 10,000 to 2,500 to 10,000. 20:13 So it goes from 50% down to 25%. 20:17 Right? 20:19 And your credit score goes up because as your balance 20:21 to lending limit ratio decreases, 20:23 your credit score increases. 20:25 So paying down your bills is one of the fastest way 20:27 that you can dispute 20:29 or to increase your credit score. 20:30 Now, a lot of individuals will say 20:32 once I pay that $2,500 off, 20:35 if you close an account what happens is your balance 20:39 to your lending limit ratio and we follow scenario again, 20:42 it goes from 5,000 to 10,000, it was 50%. 20:46 You paid off 2,500, it's 2,500 to 10,000 it's 25%. 20:51 Now let's just say you cancel a $5,000 debt. 20:56 That goes from 50% to 25%, 21:00 and then you cancel $5,000 worth of credit card debt, 21:03 it goes from 2,500 to 5,000, 21:06 your balance to lending limit ratio goes back up 21:09 because you cancelled the credit card. 21:12 When you cancel that credit card, 21:14 essentially what the Fair Isaac Corporation 21:16 is saying is that you have less ability to take on risk 21:21 and it gets you coming and going, 21:22 and this is the part that's almost unfair 21:26 because as you take out additional credit cards, 21:30 then additional credit increase are 10% of your FICO score, 21:35 so as you apply for additional credit cards, 21:37 applying for debt, 21:38 and so if you're on an airplane 21:40 or you're in the mall, and you see a special, 21:44 a credit card special, 21:45 when you apply for that credit card, 21:47 your FICO score goes down five to six points automatically, 21:50 because they have to check, it's a hard check, 21:52 they have to check to see 21:54 if your credit is worthy of getting this additional loan, 21:57 additional ability to loan. 22:00 And then now, they're saying that 22:01 you're taking on more risk, so your credit score goes down. 22:04 So when you take on more risk and apply for more, 22:07 your credit score goes down. 22:08 You cancel old, your credit score goes down 22:11 because now you have less ability 22:13 to take on as much risk, 22:14 so that gets you coming and going 22:15 and really doesn't make a lot of sense. 22:17 Yeah. 22:18 But that's just the rules and that's how we have to... 22:21 And have a monopoly, 22:22 there is nothing that we can do. 22:23 But if you pay it off... 22:25 Yes. 22:26 So the more you close your credit cards. 22:29 So does it pay you then to just keep a low balance 22:31 on all of them? 22:33 No. 22:34 And I'll tell you the reason that doesn't 22:36 is because the way the Fair Isaac Corporation operates, 22:39 is that it operates month to month, right? 22:42 They take a snapshot of what your credit amount is 22:45 for the month of August, 22:48 they're going to take a snapshot of 22:49 what it is in September compared to August. 22:52 So as you pay it down, 22:54 what happens is your credit score goes up 22:57 because you're paying it down, so carrying a balance 22:59 really doesn't have any additional value 23:03 because that month to month is the same. 23:05 So if you carried 2,000 and you carried over the 2,000 23:08 the next month and you just pay the minimum 23:10 then it's still the same when they took that snapshot. 23:12 It's not going to be any different 23:14 but if you paid it down, it's going to go up. 23:17 So now, I'll tell you, one of the fastest ways 23:20 of getting your credit score to increase is making sure 23:25 that 75% of all credit reports have errors on them. 23:30 And this means you have a wrong name, 23:32 it could be your name was spelt wrong, 23:34 you know, you have a junior, had a senior, 23:39 if you have a father, and you are second or third, 23:43 more than likely there's probably an error 23:46 on your credit report 23:47 because they probably might have gotten mixed up 23:49 between your father and you, 23:52 in some form or the other and as many. 23:54 I mean, these are just people 23:55 at the end of the day putting information 23:57 and it's mostly automated, 23:58 but there are individuals 24:00 who insert a lot of information, 24:01 so 75% have these errors. 24:03 So go and clean up these errors and by all means, 24:06 disputing anything that you feel is wrong 24:09 on those credit cards, 24:10 on that credit report, is a very fast way, 24:13 because now they passed legislation 24:15 that they now have 30 days to respond 24:17 to that dispute. 24:19 I actually like disputing. 24:21 One way of disputing via letter. 24:23 I've done a few letters, 24:25 I mean that's the old school way, 24:26 but a easier way not to dispute, 24:28 you can go right on annualcreditreport.com, 24:30 and pull up your Experian, Equifax TransUnion report 24:34 and you can dispute right on the website, 24:35 you put an explanation and it goes automatically. 24:38 Now, from that point they have 30 days 24:40 to remove that information. 24:41 If they don't then, 24:43 then that report is automatically removed. 24:45 And if you dispute something and, now, again, 24:49 I'm not saying don't pay because it says in Romans, 24:53 "Let no debt remain unpaid except for the debt 24:55 to love one another." 24:56 So I guess, that might be a strict interpretation 25:00 of what the law says, according to the Lord's law, 25:05 you need to follow that. 25:06 If you have debt, you got to pay it back. 25:08 That's right. 25:09 So you pay it back and even though you can get it removed, 25:13 still pay it back because you owe that. 25:15 Okay? 25:16 So that's what I've done 25:18 whenever I've counseled my clients 25:20 and with Crown Financial Ministries. 25:23 But you still should know the law 25:25 of exactly how to dispute items, 25:27 because there may be many items, 25:29 you might have an item for on there, 25:32 so the 50% of your FICO score 25:35 is your length of credit history 25:37 and then 10% of your FICO score 25:39 is essentially the types or different types of debt 25:44 on your account. 25:45 So all those together makes up 100%. 25:49 And so, very quickly, what I would say for those 25:52 that are suffering from identity theft, 25:54 and I guess, we can love to do a part two on this to do. 25:57 There's still part two. 25:59 Yeah, seven steps 26:00 on how to improve your credit card, 26:02 I definitely want to get into that, 26:03 is dealing with identity theft. 26:04 Okay? 26:06 And matter of fact, we can save that for part two as well. 26:07 Ah, let's do a little cliffhanger. 26:08 Okay, we definitely will 26:10 because there's a lot of individuals out there 26:13 that are suffering from identity theft 26:15 and, I mean, I've been a victim of it 26:17 and especially now that we are in an era of, 26:22 you know, you're using the Internet at Starbucks 26:26 and it's a public internet. 26:28 Individuals can break into your domain 26:30 and they can take all your personal information. 26:32 That is becoming more and more prevalent now than ever before. 26:35 Cyber theft. Exactly. 26:36 So, that's becoming so easy now that individuals have, 26:39 they can steal your information by just walking by you 26:42 and using magnets to pull all your credit card information. 26:45 That's right. That's right. Well, we have to do a part two. 26:48 Absolutely, would love to. All right. 26:49 And let's do a takeaway. All right. 26:51 Great. 27:00 Your credit score is your ticket 27:02 to many things in your life, 27:03 whether you can buy a house, rent an apartment, 27:06 the interest rate on your mortgage, 27:08 your car payments, your insurance premiums, 27:10 your ability to get business loans, 27:12 all of these and more 27:13 are impacted by your credit score. 27:15 If you analyze, many areas across the country 27:18 with the highest levels of crime, 27:19 substance abuse, and poverty 27:21 you'll find all of these are negatively correlated 27:24 with credit scores. 27:25 The higher the credit score, the lower the crime, 27:28 substance abuse, and poverty. 27:30 The reason is simple. 27:31 With good credit, you have access to capital, 27:33 and we must demand access to capital to purchase homes, 27:37 start businesses, and build wealth. 27:39 So start today. 27:40 There are too many free resources you can use 27:42 which can help build your credit. 27:44 We'll be posting these resources continuously 27:46 on the Dare to Dream Network Facebook page. 27:48 Email me at dollarsandsense@3abn.org, 27:51 with any questions. 27:53 As always, be the change and remember, 27:55 the purpose of life is a life full of purpose. 27:58 Be blessed. |
Revised 2021-06-19