While many people are actually “scared” of debt, there are occasions when a manageable debt load can actually be very beneficial to you in the longer term.  During the last Bull run in the US stock market there were many investors who had substantial (although manageable) mortgages to pay off, but also had excess capital which they invested into the stock market.  So when does it actually make sense to retain debt and try to make excess capital work for you?

If you are not aware of your FICO score then you really need to approach one of the credit rating agencies and ask them for the credit score which they have calculated for you.  Based upon the credit rating calculation developed by Fair Isaac & Co (FICO) this information is vital for any kind of credit which you attempt to obtain.  While the different credit rating agencies in the US will have different variations of the FICO calculation, they are all very similar and relate to the elements of your financial history.