An important score

Your credit score is becoming more and more important.

Not long ago, a credit score of 720 — on the scale of 300 to 850 — would qualify you for the best rates for mortgages, credit cards, etc. Now you might not get the best rates if you’re at 750, financial experts say.

Kiplinger.com deputy editor Janet Bodnar gives a good overview of credit scoring and strategies for improving your score in a video posted today. Go here to view it.

Some of this advice is pretty straightforward, and may be familiar: Pay your bills on time. Use less than half — or even just a quarter — of your available credit. Don’t open a bunch of new accounts at once.

But Bodnar also notes that it’s a poor idea to close an account once you’ve paid it off. It’s better for your credit score to keep an account in good standing open. She also notes that some things you might not expect — such as overdue library books or parking tickets — might put a ding in your credit score.

The bottom line is that you can improve your score, but only through hard work — by reducing debt, keeping balances relatively low, and paying consistently on time. If you do that, though, you can start to see a change in six months to a year, Bodnar says.

Here are some resources:

A list of six seemingly minor things that can hurt your score.

Seven ways to improve your score.

General tips from Fair Isaac for improving your score.

How to get your one free annual credit report.

What’s your best advice for improving a credit score? Have you seen a big change — up or down — in your credit score, and what caused it?