Establishing and maintaining a good credit score is something that should be crucially important to everyone, as it can affect an individual’s personal finances on many different levels – everything from the credit cards you’re offered to your individual automobile insurance rates. Sporting dismal FICO digits can really be a downer. There’s no time like the present to start striving for credit score perfection But you must do so mindfully and not get sidetracked by myths. Here are a few facts worth knowing:

It Does Hurt To Ask

You credit report will reflect every time an outside company makes a request for a copy of your credit profile. While not all inquiries are viewed negatively, excessive inquiries can cause your credit score to dip. This means that you should be careful about applying for too many credit cards, no matter how tempting the initial teaser offers.

Good Doesn’t Make Bad Better

If you are one of those people who has been consoling yourself with the belief that a lot of good entries on your credit report will offset a smattering of bad behavior it’s time to snap out of it and face reality. The truth is, even one or two missed payments can cause your credit score to drop and affect your ability to borrow money at the best available interest rate. It takes seven years for a negative entry on your report to disappear, so do your best not to slip up.

Don’t Be Blasé About Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy is not a magic wand that erases all financial mistakes, as many people seem to think. Upon filing for bankruptcy, every credit account included within the filing will appear on your credit report tagged with the label "included in bankruptcy." There is also a court records section on your report under which your bankruptcy filing and discharge will appear. It’s extremely difficult to ever remove all negative traces of a bankruptcy from your credit report, which is why filing for bankruptcy should only be considered as an absolute last resort.

You are now privy to the truth behind some of the most common credit score misconceptions. Here’s hoping you will share some of your new credit score savvy with those unfortunates who are less informed than you. A good credit score will ensure that you will find it easy to get credit cards, loans and other financial products at the best possible rates.