18 things that hurt your credit score + MORE Sep 7th

The Bank of Canada is hiking its benchmark interest rate by a quarter point to one per cent. So, what does that mean for people with credit card debt or a mortgage?
Economist Bryan Yu with Central 1 Credit Union says if you’re carrying a lot of debt on your credit card, you’ll probably start to notice higher interest charges.
“They’re going to be facing the quarter-point increase on terms of that debt for their servicing… That’s a quarter point on an annual basis. So, it is going to be a bit of a pinch going forward.”
Read: I crushed our $320,000 mortgage in just six years
“Likely, we are going to see a couple more hikes going forward,” he speculates. “But I think at this point, it will be relatively stable for most individuals until about next year.”
So, it might be a good time to start chipping away at that balance.
“They should keep in mind that this is sort of the early stages of a longer-term rate cycle. So, they may want to be looking at paring back some of that debt over time,” says Yu…

Today we released the 13th Ultimate Credit Card Portfolio on Rewards Canada! With school back in now we bring you The Ultimate Student Credit Card portfolio!School has started. You’re walking through the hallways and common areas of your college or university and there they are. The booths from all the banks pitching you on your first credit card. Well at least that’s how it was when I was in university 20+ years ago. Not sure if its the same anymore but the premise is the same. As a student out of high school its now time for you start building your credit all the while starting to learn the ins and outs of reward programs. The key is credit cards and some of you will get them to run credit. You need to. You don’t have much money and need to stretch things out. But you need to be smart. Don’t get yourself into a lot of debt. Don’t make the mistake many of us have done in the past. Be proactive. Get yourself those credit cards but limit yourself, or better yet put payments on the cards before you even use them…

This world of credit cards is a wild one. Chase has been slowly disintegrating here in Canada, selling off most of its portfolio and back end to Scotia while only maintaining a few cards. Earlier in the year they stopped accepting applications for the Amazon.ca card although existing cardholders could still keep using the card. Now the same fate has reached the only Chase card that was left for applications, The Chase Marriott Premier Visa card. Chase is no longer accepting new applications for the card however existing cardholders can continue to use the card for the time being. No word on what will happen in the future. Whether this is a surprise or not will depend on how you look at the picture. If you look at it with Chase as your primary focus it probably isn’t a surprise based on all their cards being shut down or moved. If you look at it with Marriott as the primary focus then it is a surprise. Marriott is growing and growing big. They bought Delta Hotels and some other smaller chains years ago and then as most of you know took over Starwood Hotels…

I’ve always believed that anyone substantially mired in debt has no business fantasizing about retirement. For me, this extends even to a home mortgage, which is why I often say “the foundation of financial independence is a paid-for home.”
Sadly, however, it’s a fact that many Canadian seniors ARE attempting to retire, despite onerous credit-card debt and sometimes even those notorious wealth killers called payday loans. Compared to paying out annual interest approaching 20% (in the case of ordinary credit cards) and much more than that for payday loans, would it not make sense to liquidate some of your RRSP to discharge those high-interest obligations, or at least cut them down to a manageable size?
This question comes up periodically here at MoneySense.ca. For example, financial planner Janet Gray tackled it in March in a Q&A. A recently retired reader wanted to pay off a $96,000 debt in four years by tapping into her $423,000 in RRSPs. Gray replied that this was ambitious and raised multiple questions…

Hard inquiries, missing a payment and maxing out a card hurt your credit score. What else does?