Credit scoring is one of the most misunderstood parts of personal finance, and a lot of confidently repeated advice is simply wrong. Here are 10 of the most common myths, and what is actually true.
Myth 1: Checking your own credit score hurts it
False. Checking your own score or report is a soft inquiry, which has zero impact on your score. Only hard inquiries — triggered when a lender checks your credit as part of an application you submitted — can have a small, temporary effect.
Myth 2: Carrying a balance improves your score
False. There is no credit-building benefit to carrying a balance and paying interest. Paying your statement in full each month is better for your score and your wallet. What matters for utilization is the balance reported to the bureau at the time your statement closes, not whether you carry it month to month.
Myth 3: Closing old or unused cards helps your score
False, usually the opposite. Closing a card reduces your total available credit (raising utilization on remaining cards) and can eventually shorten your average account age. Unless the card has a fee you want to avoid, keeping it open with occasional small use is generally better for your score.
Myth 4: You only have one credit score
False. You have many possible scores — different models (FICO, VantageScore), different versions (FICO 8, FICO 9, FICO 10T), and different bureaus (Experian, Equifax, TransUnion) can each produce a different number, sometimes by 20-50 points or more.
Myth 5: Income affects your credit score
False. Your income does not appear on your credit report and is not a factor in your credit score at all. It is, however, a separate factor lenders consider during the actual underwriting decision on a loan application.
Myth 6: Paying off a collection removes it from your report
Partially false. Paying a collection does not automatically remove it — it updates the status to "paid," but the account can remain on your report for up to 7 years from the original delinquency date. Removal generally requires a successful dispute or a negotiated "pay for delete" agreement with the collector, which not all collectors will honor.
Myth 7: Married couples share a single credit score
False. Credit scores are individual, tied to your Social Security Number. Marriage does not merge your credit files. Joint accounts opened together do appear on both spouses' reports, but each person maintains a fully separate score.
Myth 8: A debit card helps build credit
False. Debit card activity is not reported to credit bureaus at all, since it draws from your own bank balance rather than extending credit. Building credit requires credit accounts — cards, loans — that report to the bureaus.
Myth 9: You need to be in debt to have a good score
False. You can have an excellent score with little to no debt, as long as you have a history of on-time payments and responsibly managed credit. What you need is credit history and activity — not necessarily an ongoing balance.
Myth 10: Once negative items fall off, your score resets to a fresh start
Partially true, with nuance. Negative items do stop counting against your score once they age off your report (generally 7 years for most negative marks, 10 for bankruptcy), but your score does not "reset" — it reflects your full remaining history at that point, positive and negative.
Want the accurate mechanics behind these? See What Affects Your Credit Score? for the real weighted factors, or FICO vs. VantageScore to understand why "your score" is not a single number.
