I am often asked, "What is a healthy credit card balance?" It is an important question for consumers to ask since your credit card balances can impact your credit scores quite significantly. In answer to the question above, the best balance is $0.
When you allow your credit card balances to rise over 50% doing so can significantly damage your credit scores, even if you are making your monthly payments on time. Paying off your cards to $0 (and never charging more than you can afford to pay off each month) is the ultimate goal. However, that does not mean your balances have to be at $0 before you might begin to see some score benefit.
When you pay your balances to below 50% you will generally see a credit score increase to some degree. Once the balances fall below 30% you will possibly see another credit score increase. When you pay the down to 0% - 1% of your credit card limits you should receive your maximum potential credit score increase.
Ron Lambright is considered to be one of the foremost credit experts in the entire country. With nearly 2 decades of experience, Ron is called upon weekly to speak at seminars educating attorneys, loan officers, Realtors, and consumers regarding the complex subjects of credit reporting and credit scoring. Ron is also regularly featured on talk shows and podcasts and has been published in numerous articles, educational handbooks, and blogs. He is an expert at teaching consumers and business owners how to achieve “loan ready” credit reports as well as being an expert in the fields of business financing, business credit, and credit score improvement strategies.
You can connect with Ron on the HOPE4USA Facebook page by clicking HERE.
