Ways to Repair Your Credit Score

admin • November 26, 2019

Steps to get your credit rating back toward 720.

  We all know the value of a good credit score. We all try to maintain one. Sometimes, though, life throws us a financial curveball and that score declines. What steps can we take to repair it?

A man in a suit and tie is standing next to two credit cards.

Reduce your credit utilization ratio. Your credit utilization ratio (CUR) is the percentage of a credit card’s debt limit you have used up. Simply stated, if you have a credit card with a limit of $1,500 and you have $1,300 borrowed on it right now, the CUR for that card is 87%. Carrying lower balances on your credit cards tilts the CUR in your favor and promotes a better credit score. 1

Review your credit reports for errors. You probably know that you are entitled to receive one free credit report per year from each of the three major U.S. credit reporting agencies – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. You might as well request a report from all three at once. As the federal government’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau notes, you can do this at annualcreditreport.com. About 20% of credit reports contain mistakes. Upon review, some borrowers spot credit card fraud; some notice botched account details or identity errors. At its website, the CFPB offers sample letters and instructions you can use to dispute errors. 2

Behavior makes a difference. Credit card issuers, lenders, and credit agencies believe that payment history paints a reliable picture of future borrower behavior. Whether you pay off your balance in full, whether you routinely max out your account each month, the age of your account – these are also factors affecting that portrait. 3

Think about getting another credit card or two. Your CUR is calculated across all your credit card accounts, in respect to your total monthly borrowing limit. So, if you have a $1,200 balance on a card with a $1,500 monthly limit and you open two more credit card accounts with $1,500 monthly limits, you will markedly lower your CUR in the process. There are potential downsides to this move – your credit card accounts will have lower average longevity, and the issuer of the new card will, of course, look at your credit history. 1

Think twice about closing out credit cards you rarely use. When you realize that your CUR takes all the credit cards you have into account, you see why this may end up being a bad move. If you have $5,500 in consumer debt among five credit cards that all have the same debt limit, and you close out three of them, accounting for $1,300 of that revolving debt, you now have $4,200 among three credit cards. In terms of CUR, you are now using a third of your available credit card balance whereas you once used a fifth. 4

Beyond that, 15% of your credit score is based on the length of your credit history – how long your accounts have been open and the pattern of use and payments per account. This represents another downside to closing out older, little-used credit cards. 3

Alternative credit scoring systems have also emerged. If your credit history has taken a big hit or is spotty, they may end up helping you out. TransUnion’s CreditVision Link, the LexisNexis Risk View Score, and the FICO XD2 and UltraFICO scores compiled by Fair Isaac Co. (FICO) are examples. They introduced new scoring criteria for borrowers who may be creditworthy, but lack sufficient credit history to build a traditional credit score or need to rebuild their scores. Cell phone payments, cable TV payments, property records, and other types of data are used by these systems in order to set a credit score. 5

Disclosures & Citations

This material was prepared by MarketingPro, Inc., and does not necessarily represent the views of the presenting party, nor their affiliates. This information has been derived from sources believed to be accurate. Please note – investing involves risk, and past performance is no guarantee of future results. The publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional services. If assistance is needed, the reader is advised to engage the services of a competent professional. This information should not be construed as investment, tax or legal advice and may not be relied on for the purpose of avoiding any Federal tax penalty. This is neither a solicitation nor recommendation to purchase or sell any investment or insurance product or service, and should not be relied upon as such. All indices are unmanaged and are not illustrative of any particular investment. Citations. 1 – nerdwallet.com/blog/finance/credit-utilization-improving-winning/ [10/29/19] 2 – consumerfinance.gov/about-us/blog/common-errors-credit-report-and-how-get-them-fixed/ [2/5/19] 3 – cnbc.com/select/what-is-a-credit-score-and-how-to-check-yours-for-free [10/23/19] 4 – fool.com/the-ascent/credit-cards/articles/dont-close-that-credit-card-without-asking-yourself-these-6-questions/ [10/5/19] 5 – creditcardinsider.com/blog/check-free-fico-score-every-other-free-credit-score/ [9/17/19] Securities and advisory services offered through Centaurus Financial, Inc. Member FINRA & SIPC, Registered Broker Dealer and a Registered Investment Advisor. Centaurus Financial Inc. and Five Pine Wealth Management are not affiliated. This is not an offer to sell securities, which may be done only after proper delivery of a prospectus and client suitability has been reviewed and determined. Information relating to securities is intended for use by individuals residing in (OR, OH, ID, CA, WA, MT, UT, NY). Centaurus Financial Inc. does not provide tax or legal advice.

Join Our Newsletter


Plan smarter with our monthly financial tips + insights

What Happens to Your Tax Bracket When Your Spouse Passes Away?

October 27, 2026
Key Takeaways RMDs can leave a surviving spouse with substantial taxable income even after they move from joint to single tax brackets. The bridge years between retirement and RMDs are often the best window for couples filing jointly to make Roth conversions. Roth conversions can also spare heirs from inherited IRA taxes that come with a traditional IRA. If you asked married couples what they want their retirement savings to do, most would agree something like this is a top priority: if anything happens to one of us, the other will be okay, and so will our kids. Many of these couples save consistently and build healthy IRAs. They stay on top of beneficiary designations and estate documents, too. They’re doing everything right and feel confident the plan will hold. Maybe that’s where you are, too. What plans sometimes neglect, though, is the tax return. Once the surviving spouse moves from joint to single filing, the same IRA you both intended to provide security can push them into a higher tax bracket through required minimum distributions. Higher Medicare premiums may follow. That’s why you shouldn't wait to plan for the surviving spouse’s tax picture until one spouse is gone. Couples have more options while they’re both here to make decisions together, particularly in the years between retirement and required minimum distributions. Related Reading: How to Prepare Financially for the Death of a Spouse How Your Tax Return Changes After the Loss of a Spouse In the year a spouse passes, the survivor can generally still file a joint return. That keeps the wider joint bracket and the larger standard deduction intact for one more tax year. After that, many surviving spouses eventually file as single. A status called “qualifying surviving spouse” extends those joint tax rates for two more years, but only when a dependent child still lives in the home. (For most couples approaching or in retirement, that exception won’t apply.) The 2026 federal income tax brackets, updated for OBBB amendments, compare like this: 2026 Federal Income Tax Rates 

How Much Can You Spend on Travel and Giving in Retirement?

September 17, 2026
Key Takeaways Having substantial wealth doesn’t automatically translate into a clear strategy for spending on travel, family, and philanthropy. A tax-aware withdrawal strategy determines how much you can direct toward discretionary spending and gifts each year without disrupting your plan. You can remove the guesswork by giving travel, family gifts, and charitable giving their own funding strategy through tools like donor-advised funds, QCDs, and structured gifting. A written, stress-tested income and withdrawal plan is how you get numbers you can act on with confidence. They call it your “golden years” for a reason. It’s the long stretch you’ve dreamt of for years: leisurely trips with your spouse, helping your kids with a down payment, and finally writing that big check for a cause you’re passionate about. You built significant wealth and have the resources and the desire to do all three. But even with a substantial portfolio, many high-net-worth retirees hesitate before spending freely — even on the things that matter most to them. Even with substantial assets, they find themselves asking, “How much can I spend in retirement? That hesitation usually has to do with the absence of a coordinated strategy that spells out how much you can direct toward discretionary spending each year and how those decisions affect your tax obligations, estate plans, and financial flexibility. Shifting From Building Wealth to Directing It  For most of your career, your financial discipline revolved around growing your portfolio: maximizing contributions, managing risk, and watching the number climb. That habit served you well, but retirement introduces a shift in decision-making. Instead of allocating income toward growth, you’re directing that accumulated wealth toward your lifestyle, your family’s future, and the causes you care about. Once you retire, your measure of success changes from the size of your balance to whether your withdrawal strategy can fund your priorities and legacy goals without unnecessary tax drag or risk.