Your credit score is more than just a number — it’s your financial reputation. It tells lenders how responsible you are with credit, and it can affect your ability to get a mortgage, rent an apartment, secure a car loan, or even land certain jobs. The higher your score, the better your chances of getting approved for credit and securing lower interest rates.
If you’re aiming to boost your credit score, you need to understand the different factors that influence it. At Ritter Investment Group Services, we empower individuals with the education and tools needed to take control of their financial future.

Let’s break down the six primary factors that impact your credit score and explore actionable ways you can improve each one.

1. Payment History: The #1 Factor That Impacts Your Score

Impact on your score: 35%

Your payment history is the most critical factor in your credit score. It shows whether you’ve paid past credit accounts on time. A few missed payments can severely damage your score, especially if they go into collections or result in a charge-off.

How to boost your credit score through payment history:

Always pay on time: Even one missed payment can drop your score by 90-100 points.

Set up payment reminders or auto-pay: These tools help ensure you never miss a due date.

Catch up on late payments: If you’re behind, get current as soon as possible. The longer you pay on time, the more your score will improve.

Ask for goodwill deletions: If you’ve paid off a past due amount, some creditors will remove the late mark upon request.

Pro Tip from Ritter Investment Group Services: We help you dispute inaccurate negative items and guide you through negotiations to resolve past due accounts.

2. Credit Utilization: Keeping Balances in Check

Impact on your score: 30%

Credit utilization is the ratio of your credit card balances to your credit limits. If you’re using a large percentage of your available credit, it suggests you’re overextended, which can hurt your score.

Ideal credit utilization rate: Keep it below 30%, and for the best impact, aim for under 10%.

How to boost your credit score with better utilization:

Pay down high balances: Reducing your balances directly boosts your score.

Increase your credit limits: Requesting a higher credit limit can lower your utilization, as long as your spending doesn’t increase.

Spread out your balances: Don’t max out a single card; instead, distribute usage across multiple cards.

Make multiple payments per month: This keeps your reported balance low even if you spend regularly.

Ritter Pro Tip: We help our clients build strategic credit usage plans and connect them with tradeline opportunities to increase available credit.

3. Credit Age: How Time Affects Your Creditworthiness

Impact on your score: 15%

The longer your credit history, the more data lenders have to assess your behavior. This includes the average age of your accounts, the age of your oldest account, and the age of your newest account.

How to improve credit age:

Avoid closing old accounts: Keep your oldest cards open, even if you don’t use them much.

Be strategic about new accounts: Every new credit line lowers your average age of credit, so only open new accounts when necessary

Add authorized user accounts: You can piggyback on someone else’s long-standing credit history to boost your own.

Ritter Insight: We assist with authorized user tradelines to help our clients immediately benefit from aged accounts.

4. Credit Mix: Why Variety Can Help Boost Your Credit Score

Impact on your score: 10%

Lenders like to see that you can manage different types of credit responsibly. Your credit mix might include:

Credit cards

Auto loans

Student loans

Mortgages

Personal loans

Store cards

How to improve your credit mix:

Diversify responsibly: Don’t take on unnecessary debt, but consider adding an installment loan if you’ve only had revolving credit.

Use credit-builder loans or secured loans: These are safe, low-risk ways to expand your credit mix.

Ritter Strategy: We help you decide when and how to add new types of credit that can positively impact your score.

5. New Credit Inquiries: Handle With Care

Impact on your score: 10%

When you apply for new credit, a lender performs a hard inquiry on your credit report. Too many hard inquiries in a short time can signal risk and lower your score.

How to manage inquiries:

Limit new applications: Only apply when necessary, especially if you’re planning a major purchase.

Prequalify instead: Some lenders offer prequalification with a soft inquiry, which doesn’t affect your score.

Space out applications: Avoid applying for multiple cards or loans within a short period.

Our Credit Tip: We help clients understand which inquiries are necessary and how to mitigate their impact.

6. Public Records and Collections: Clean Up Your Report

Impact: Can be severe depending on the account

Bankruptcies, tax liens, and collection accounts can significantly hurt your credit. While some public records (like medical collections under $500) are no longer reported, many still are.

Steps to recover:

Dispute inaccurate entries: Many collection accounts contain errors. Get them removed with proper documentation.

Settle collections smartly: Pay-for-delete agreements can help you remove these accounts entirely.

Rebuild after bankruptcy: Start small with secured credit cards and installment loans.

Ritter’s Service Advantage: We specialize in credit restoration and aggressive dispute techniques to remove unverifiable public records and collections.

Final Thoughts

Credit scores don’t improve overnight, but with the right strategy and support, you can absolutely make progress. By focusing on payment history, reducing credit utilization, maintaining healthy accounts, and cleaning up negative marks, you’ll see real improvement. Let Ritter Investment Group Services help you boost your credit score and unlock the financial freedom you deserve.

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