June 24, 2025 • 5 mins
Amy talks with the host of ‘How to Money’ Joel Larsgaard about the FICO plan, college no longer being risk free, and the new MVNO cell services.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let's say good morning now to the host of money
on KFI. It's Joel lurs Guard morning Joel.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Good morning Amy.
Speaker 3 (00:06):
I hear your sweating and at your son's swimming practice.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Yeah, I am.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Can we just talk to Yeah, we just talked to
Courtney Donaho with Bloomberg. She's also in New York and
said that she's just sweating to death, really hot.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
This heat wave is something crazy, isn't it.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Okay, Well, the pool is the place to be, so
glad you're there, But that doesn't prohibit us from talking
about money. And I think this is very interesting for
the people who are fans of the buy now, pay
later trend.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
It could affect your credit score.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Now, yeah, and you and I have talked about this
a few times. By now pay later in general, and
I'm not a fan of the proliferation. There are a
number of companies now that allow you to pay for
whatever you want under the sun, essentially in installments, from
groceries to airplane tickets to grub hub. And it just
(00:59):
it unsettle me every time I hear about BNPL, you know,
wandering into a new way to pay for something random
and yees. So now, but the part of the problem
has been for lenders is as buy now, Pay Later
has become this bigger segment of the market, well, lenders
are saying, we don't know who we're lending to, and
(01:20):
maybe they've got twenty six outstanding by now pay Later
loans that they've paid late on and that would show
that they don't handle credit terribly well, but that doesn't
get reported to the bureaus. So it's really hard for
them to know who is a good person to lend
credit to, and who are to yeah to lend to
make a loan to, and who's not and so yeah,
finally we're starting to see the addition of buy now,
(01:41):
Pay Later into the credit scoring models, and Fiico is
really a leader here at Fico's like basically the biggest
player in the credit scoring game, and they're going to
start working with a firm we've seen a firm start
reporting anyway to some of the credit bureaus. Standardizing the
how this impacts credit scores has been the tough part,
but it seems Fiico has the first robust model that
(02:01):
they're going to implement.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
Okay, so I have a question about credit scores in general.
Sure eight hundred used to be like the top that's
that's as good as it could get. Well, mine's way
over eight hundred. When did that change that nine hundred
is the top score?
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Now, Okay, first, that sounds like a humble brag amy,
which is fine. You can do that let people know
how great you are. So that's just a retally good question.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
I've worked really hard to have good credit. But it's
just it was never that high. And now I'm like,
how did it get that high? I didn't I haven't
done anything different.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
You deserve the credit. I want you to have that credit.
But it just made me see what happens with credit scores.
The thing is, there's there. There are so many of
them it's not even funny. So some of them go
up to eight fifty, some of them go up to
nine hundred. I believe it's a TransUnion that use the
scores up to nine hundred. And so every each bureau
(03:00):
has different scoring models, and even underneath each bureau, like
for instance, FCoS mentioning, which which credit scores. They're well,
they're creating new credit scores and incorporate buy now, pay later.
But some lenders might say, hey, actually we're still rolling
with the FCO eight scores, and these are FICO ten
T or whatever like they're they're renaming and adding different
(03:20):
scores that these lenders can purchase in order to delve
in and see, you know, the credit worthiness of potential
of a potential borrower. And so these credit scores run
the gamut. I would hold loosely kind of that number
and just kind of a generally good credit score that
that is going to be top tier to get the
best rates on a mortgage or a car loan or
(03:40):
something like that is going to be seven forty plus
or seven sixty plus. If you're in that range, you
don't need to sweat it, whether you know it'll be like,
I gotta get it up to eight fifty, I gotta
get perfect. To me that that pursuit of the perfect
credit score is a waste of your time. Good enough
is good enough, and again it is going to get
you where you want to go. But I get why
(04:00):
it's confusing, because there are just dozens of credit scores
out there on you, many of which were not pretty
too okay.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
And I will tell you that I can speak from
firsthand that you are correct, because I went in just
I can't even remember what it was.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
But I went in and I and I.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
Said, but I've got this really great credit score, and
they go, huh, Like it didn't matter, like you said,
once you get up to like seven forty seven sixty,
that's like top tier and it doesn't make a difference
really After that.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Yeah, you're still going to get the best rates on
loans that you might that you might be wanting to
take out. One one place I like for people to
go is is credit karma dot com. And if you
go to credit Karma and you create an account, be
aware they'll try to, like, you know, get your sign
up for credit cards. We'll try to entice you to
sign up for credit products because they're going to know
a lot about you. But the cool thing is there's
(04:49):
like credit score cards that you can you can tap
into and you can see, Okay, what is harming my
credit score? If I have a poor credit score, you'll
be able to like see two of your credit scores
recur credit. Your credit card company is typically going to
have great credit information for you that's widely available. That
wasn't the case twenty years ago, but it is now.
(05:10):
So there's so many ways to kind of check in
on your status. Hey, what's my credit looking like? How
can I beef that up? How can I improve my
credit so that I am getting the best terms when
I do need to borrow?
Speaker 1 (05:20):
All right? And for lots more great financial advice, credit scores,
whether you need college.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
And new cell phone plans. You can listen to.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
How to Money with Joel Larsgard right here on KFI.
It's every Sunday from noon to two. You can also
follow Joel how to Money at at at how to
Money Joel.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Thank you Joel, Thanks Amie, appreciate you.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
Stay cool.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
We'll do.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
That. Chance
Let's say good morning now to the host of money
on KFI. It's Joel lurs Guard morning Joel.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Good morning Amy.
Speaker 3 (00:06):
I hear your sweating and at your son's swimming practice.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Yeah, I am.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Can we just talk to Yeah, we just talked to
Courtney Donaho with Bloomberg. She's also in New York and
said that she's just sweating to death, really hot.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
This heat wave is something crazy, isn't it.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Okay, Well, the pool is the place to be, so
glad you're there, But that doesn't prohibit us from talking
about money. And I think this is very interesting for
the people who are fans of the buy now, pay
later trend.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
It could affect your credit score.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Now, yeah, and you and I have talked about this
a few times. By now pay later in general, and
I'm not a fan of the proliferation. There are a
number of companies now that allow you to pay for
whatever you want under the sun, essentially in installments, from
groceries to airplane tickets to grub hub. And it just
(00:59):
it unsettle me every time I hear about BNPL, you know,
wandering into a new way to pay for something random
and yees. So now, but the part of the problem
has been for lenders is as buy now, Pay Later
has become this bigger segment of the market, well, lenders
are saying, we don't know who we're lending to, and
(01:20):
maybe they've got twenty six outstanding by now pay Later
loans that they've paid late on and that would show
that they don't handle credit terribly well, but that doesn't
get reported to the bureaus. So it's really hard for
them to know who is a good person to lend
credit to, and who are to yeah to lend to
make a loan to, and who's not and so yeah,
finally we're starting to see the addition of buy now,
(01:41):
Pay Later into the credit scoring models, and Fiico is
really a leader here at Fico's like basically the biggest
player in the credit scoring game, and they're going to
start working with a firm we've seen a firm start
reporting anyway to some of the credit bureaus. Standardizing the
how this impacts credit scores has been the tough part,
but it seems Fiico has the first robust model that
(02:01):
they're going to implement.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
Okay, so I have a question about credit scores in general.
Sure eight hundred used to be like the top that's
that's as good as it could get. Well, mine's way
over eight hundred. When did that change that nine hundred
is the top score?
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Now, Okay, first, that sounds like a humble brag amy,
which is fine. You can do that let people know
how great you are. So that's just a retally good question.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
I've worked really hard to have good credit. But it's
just it was never that high. And now I'm like,
how did it get that high? I didn't I haven't
done anything different.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
You deserve the credit. I want you to have that credit.
But it just made me see what happens with credit scores.
The thing is, there's there. There are so many of
them it's not even funny. So some of them go
up to eight fifty, some of them go up to
nine hundred. I believe it's a TransUnion that use the
scores up to nine hundred. And so every each bureau
(03:00):
has different scoring models, and even underneath each bureau, like
for instance, FCoS mentioning, which which credit scores. They're well,
they're creating new credit scores and incorporate buy now, pay later.
But some lenders might say, hey, actually we're still rolling
with the FCO eight scores, and these are FICO ten
T or whatever like they're they're renaming and adding different
(03:20):
scores that these lenders can purchase in order to delve
in and see, you know, the credit worthiness of potential
of a potential borrower. And so these credit scores run
the gamut. I would hold loosely kind of that number
and just kind of a generally good credit score that
that is going to be top tier to get the
best rates on a mortgage or a car loan or
(03:40):
something like that is going to be seven forty plus
or seven sixty plus. If you're in that range, you
don't need to sweat it, whether you know it'll be like,
I gotta get it up to eight fifty, I gotta
get perfect. To me that that pursuit of the perfect
credit score is a waste of your time. Good enough
is good enough, and again it is going to get
you where you want to go. But I get why
(04:00):
it's confusing, because there are just dozens of credit scores
out there on you, many of which were not pretty
too okay.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
And I will tell you that I can speak from
firsthand that you are correct, because I went in just
I can't even remember what it was.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
But I went in and I and I.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
Said, but I've got this really great credit score, and
they go, huh, Like it didn't matter, like you said,
once you get up to like seven forty seven sixty,
that's like top tier and it doesn't make a difference
really After that.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Yeah, you're still going to get the best rates on
loans that you might that you might be wanting to
take out. One one place I like for people to
go is is credit karma dot com. And if you
go to credit Karma and you create an account, be
aware they'll try to, like, you know, get your sign
up for credit cards. We'll try to entice you to
sign up for credit products because they're going to know
a lot about you. But the cool thing is there's
(04:49):
like credit score cards that you can you can tap
into and you can see, Okay, what is harming my
credit score? If I have a poor credit score, you'll
be able to like see two of your credit scores
recur credit. Your credit card company is typically going to
have great credit information for you that's widely available. That
wasn't the case twenty years ago, but it is now.
(05:10):
So there's so many ways to kind of check in
on your status. Hey, what's my credit looking like? How
can I beef that up? How can I improve my
credit so that I am getting the best terms when
I do need to borrow?
Speaker 1 (05:20):
All right? And for lots more great financial advice, credit scores,
whether you need college.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
And new cell phone plans. You can listen to.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
How to Money with Joel Larsgard right here on KFI.
It's every Sunday from noon to two. You can also
follow Joel how to Money at at at how to
Money Joel.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Thank you Joel, Thanks Amie, appreciate you.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
Stay cool.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
We'll do.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
That. Chance
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