Many years ago I became a “Big Brother” to a “Little Brother.”
He was essentially an orphan living in a Children’s home.
He’s 30 now with a family and working a fairly good job but he has a Poor Credit rating.
I am working with him to get the rating to Good or Excellent.
I’d love to talk to someone who could offer advice. Anything.
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Hi John,
Its so great that you are Big Brother!
A book that really helped me with figure out how to build my credit score, pay off debt and generally improve my finances was Broke Millennial by Erin Lowry. Very easy to read and understand. He can likely check it out or request it be ordered by his local library.
The simplest way for him to build credit would be to apply for a secured credit card. They are easy to get approved for, as he will need to put down a min deposit of $200 (making him less at risk for any credit card debt). Things to note, he should only use 10-30% of his available credit (his deposit amount) and he should pay off his card in full each month. Not the minimum amount due, the total balance. This is extremely important for building credit and staying out of credit card debt. If he is worried about his spending habits, he could put a reoccurring bill on the card. Something small like Netflix or apple music and not use the card for anything else. This way he has a low credit utilization rate and is not accruing interest. This will improve his score over a several months and is probably the simplest way to bump his score to Good. (The book I suggested explains this in more detail)
If he has other problems with his credit history like items credit card debt or items in collections or student loans, it maybe a good idea to google free financial counselors in your area. He will like need to tackle each differently and one at time. A counselor can look at his history and help him one on one with a plan.
I personally learned about the BM book and other tips from financial podcast. My favorite is How to Money. They’re fun to listen to and are great at explaining things clearly and simply.
Hope this helps!
Thanks. Will check out book, podcast, etc.