Page 25 - ARUBA TODAY

BUSINESS Wednesday 10 april 2019
A25

How your tax refund could improve your credit

By BEV O'SHEA score recover.
Associated Press If you have money left, con-
Money can't buy you a sider using it to open other
good credit score, but you credit accounts. Paperno
might be able to use your says scores look at the ra-
income tax refund strategi- tio of "good" accounts to
cally to polish your credit. "bad." So if you had two
How to go about it de- credit cards and a car
pends on where you are in loan, and you missed both
your credit journey. a credit card payment and
IF YOU'RE NEW TO CREDIT a car payment, you'd have
If you're just starting out, two bad accounts to one
you can use a tax refund good one.
to get a credit card de- Secured accounts give you
signed for newbies. A se- opportunities to redeem
cured credit card, as the yourself in creditors' eyes.
name suggests, is guaran- By getting a secured credit
teed by money you de- card and a secured loan
posit upfront. The amount and paying both on time,
you deposit is usually the you'd then have three
credit limit you'll have. Use it good accounts to two
lightly — don't charge any bad, diluting the damage.
more than 30 percent of This June 10, 2015, file photo shows chip credit cards in Philadelphia. Money can’t buy you a IF YOU HAVE CARDS WITH
your credit limit — and pay good credit score, but you might be able to use your income tax refund strategically to polish HIGH BALANCES
it off monthly. That helps your credit. Whittling down or paying
you build your credit history Associated Press off a big credit card bal-
and score. Your deposit will ance is as close as you will
be returned to you when borrow from yourself at a account that reports your who spent four decades come to a miracle cure
you close the card or when low interest rate. payments to the three ma- working for Experian and for an ailing credit score.
you "graduate" to an unse- Credit scoring models re- jor credit bureaus, Equifax, scoring company FICO, The portion of your credit
cured card. ward you for having both Experian and TransUnion. says making sure every late limit you're using, called
Another way to build a revolving accounts (with Check with the card issuer account is brought current credit utilization, is a huge
credit history is to deposit variable payments, like a or financial institution to "has to be your first focus." factor in your score. Noth-
some of your refund in a credit card) and install- make sure they will be. Catching up on payments ing counts more except
bank or credit union and ment accounts (level pay- IF YOU'VE MISSED PAY- stops additional negative paying on time. Paperno's
take out a loan against that ments for a set time, like a MENTS IN THE PAST TWO marks from piling up on advice: Aim to get each
amount. These are usually car loan). You don't have YEARS your credit reports. Stay- card below 30 percent of
called secured loans. The to put down a large depos- Missed payments can dev- ing current and letting the its credit limit, because uti-
money on deposit is col- it to gain the benefit. But astate a credit score. Barry missed payment recede lization is calculated both
lateral, and you essentially it's important to choose an Paperno, a credit expert into the past will help your overall and per card. q
US businesses' job openings fell sharply in February

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER year. Still, that level of hiring cautious and reined in their ting their jobs stayed at 3.48 The increase in the past
Associated Press is enough to lower the un- spending, a sign that the million, a figure that is near- year suggests that Ameri-
WASHINGTON (AP) — The employment rate, currently impact of last year's tax ly 10% higher than a year cans are more confident
number of available jobs in 3.8%, over time. cuts is fading. Home sales earlier. That is a good sign, about finding new work.q
the U.S. fell sharply in Feb- The tally of open jobs far
ruary after nearly reaching outnumbers the 6.2 million
a record level the previous people who were officially
month, a sign that business- unemployed in February,
es may pull back a bit on a stark sign of employer
hiring. demand. For the nearly
The Labor Department said 20 years that the data has
Tuesday that job openings been kept, the situation has
dropped 7.1% to 7.1 million, typically been the reverse:
the lowest level in nearly a there were more people
year. The number of peo- seeking work than jobs
ple quitting their jobs was available. But last spring job
nearly unchanged. openings pulled ahead.
The figures suggest the job The job market's downshift
market is still solid but they appears to be following
also echo the mild slow- a similar path set by the
down in hiring that has economy. Growth reached In this March 7, 2019, file photo visitors to the Pittsburgh veterans
occurred so far this year. 2.9% in 2018, the fastest in job fair meet with recruiters at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.
Associated Press
Employers have added an four years, but most econo-
average of 180,000 jobs mists expect growth to slow
a month in the first three this year to between 2% dropped sharply in January because most people quit
months this year, down and 2.5%. but have since rebounded. their jobs to take a new,
from nearly 225,000 last Consumers have turned The number of people quit- usually higher-paying one.