Navigating the Credit Taboo.

Numerous American polls have consistently revealed, over the years, that personal finance (including one’s credit, credit history and credit scores) is the hardest of topics to discuss. 

Usually, the polls have personal finance beating out perennial topic avoiders such as politics and death.

 Is that because credit and personal finance represents more than a topic?

Maybe our credit and personal finance represent some of the following: an admission of failure, an absence of control, embarrassment, lack of power, feelings of insecurity and any number of fears.

For some, it might reflect man’s natural reluctance to face their own mortality or the inability to face the prospect of future failure. For others, perhaps they associate the topic as being a complex and expensive fix which is well beyond their current ability to tackle.

Silence Isn’t Always Golden

Most credit and personal finance experts believe that the avoidance of discussions regarding one’s credit challenges and personal finance can be one of the most detrimental decisions you make in your life time. They are quick to point out numerous detrimental outcomes and consequences, such as:

1                    Better Mortgage or Loan

Credit challenges can negatively impact your ability to get a mortgage or other loan. Others get approved for a mortgage or other loan, in spite of their credit challenges, but pay higher interest rates that can end costing thousands, tens of thousands and, in some cases, over a hundred thousand or more.

2                    Better Job Options

 Consumer and credit reports usually disclose information that is not contained on your resume. Often that information is inaccurate, invalid or unauthorized but it can still result in a lost job, passed over promotion, bonus denial or pay increase rejection.

3                    Better Insurance Policies

 Most insurance policies are based on a person’s credit and/or consumer report. Approval and premium rates are often contingent upon the information that various data merchants share with the insurance companies.

CPR’s goals-based consumer planning options strive to help you navigate some of life’s most challenging obstacles which are impacting, whether you know it or not, your credit, privacy and reputation. We believe that effective consumer planning options must always do the following:

1.      Your plan should be customized to help you achieve your goals. Although there is no shortage of credit challenged and personal finance challenged consumers, everybody’s situation is uniquely different. 

 2.      Your plan should address the changing nature of issues, unknowns and interactions with those who have incompatible goals and interests.

3.       Your plan should seek to minimize judgment and behavioral risks.

Smash the Credit Taboo

We know it’s hard to confront one’s credit challenges and personal finance obstacles.

 If it was easy than everyone would have great credit and finances!

Right?

But we know, and you know, that everyone doesn’t have great credit and finances. 

In fact, we are told that 77 million Americans have at least one debt collector or creditor pursuing them.

Sadly, some 132 million Americans are reported to have sub-prime credit scores.

We all know, or should know, that it isn’t easy.

The main reason it isn't easy is that it is in the credit reporting industry's short term financial best interests for consumer reports to have as many dings, bruises and credit challenges as possible.

The consumer and credit bureaus like people to have problems because that leads to more sales of their many reports and scores.

It also means millions of dollars in additional revenue because consumers are then required (some would say sucked in) to subscribe to expensive bureau monitoring services.

Profitable Error Laden Info

It is this financial conflict of interest, by the credit reporting industry, that has created the most suspect long term defective product that the world has ever seen.

A CBS 60 Minutes show entitled: "40 Million Mistakes" explained the situation like this:

"Consumer credit reporting is a four billion dollar a year industry dominated by three large companies: Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. They keep files on 200 American and traffic in our financial reputations."

The CBS investigative show further stated:

"They make their money gathering information from people we do business with and selling it to banks, merchants, insurance companies, and employers and they use it to make judgments on our credit worthiness and reliability."

It continued: "But now the realiability of the industry is being questioned in an 8-year Federal Trade Commission study to be released tomorrow. Jon Leibowitz is the chairman."

"It's A Pretty High Error Rate."

"Jon Leibowitz: 'Here's what we found. Some pretty troubling information. One out of five Americans has an error on their credit report. And one out of 10 has an error on their credit report that might lower their credit score."

"Steve Kroft: 'I'm trying to think of another industry where a 20 percent error rate would be acceptable. That's a pretty high error rate."

"Jon Leibowitz: 'It's a pretty high error rate."

Here is some of what Ohio Attorney General Mike Dewine had to say when interviewed by the CBS 60 Minutes team:

"I think the more we look at this and the more the American people know about this, the madder they're going to get."

"The federal laws says that if you believe that there is a mistake, you can go to them and they have an obligation to do a reasonable investigation."

"They're not doing a reasonable investigation. They're not doing an investigation at all."

"The problem is not that they make mistakes. It's they won't fix the mistakes."

It is literally like this - you know, guy behind the curtain in "The Wizard of Oz."

A Hard to Crack Secret Operation

The show then reported:

"You really don't know what he's doing. It really is a secret operation that is so hard to crack."

Furthermore, creditors and financial institutions make billions of dollars every year off of high interest rates which are linked to the credit scores and error laden history that is being reported. In other words, there error rates helps propel the credit bureau's profits.

Despite all of these consumer obstacles, the hardest part, for most consumers is just getting started.

Why? Because it is hard to discover who has the experience, the integrity, knowledge and tools to confront this Credit Reporting Wizard of Oz, the Wicked Witch of the Global Data Merchants and their armies of flying monkeys on your behalf.

We, at CPR Consumers, understand the difficulties confronting American consumers today.

It is why this article was written.

It is why CPR Consumers, LLC. was created.

It is why we do what we do.

Finally, but most importantly, it is why we make it easy to visit with an objective consumer professional that can usually (but not always) help you with your consumer problems.

It is why we offer a free initial call and free initial consultation.

In closing, if we may, we would like to say this to yu dear reader and friend:

We know that credit and personal finance is about much more than just money.

We know that you don’t know what you don’t know until you know it. 

We know that we can usually help you explore the life options that are right for you and your family.

We are standing by with our guidance, tools and information to help you with your credit taboo.

The road can start here: Tyler Gregory, 405-973-8464 - tyler.gregory@cprconsumers.com