I recently had the very good fortune of hearing Tawan Perry speak. For those of you not yet in the know, Tawan Perry is one of our country's foremost experts on college retention and completion. He’s the author of a number of outstanding books, has been featured on all of the major networks, and speaks to tens of thousands of college students and administrators all over the country every year.
- Can you guess what, generally speaking, the major factor in a person’s economic success in America is? The answer, of course, is successful college completion.
- Guess what the major leading indicator is of admission to and successful completion of college? I’ll give you a clue - it’s a number. Specifically, it’s the ZIP code where kids go to junior high and high school.
Why? Because better ZIP codes mean more expensive homes, mean greater tax revenues, mean higher school funding and parent involvement, which means better scholastic achievement and study habits which mean more college admissions by kids who have learned to excel. In their ZIP code - along with all of their ZIP code friends. You know that!
- Now for the tough one. What number in your life other than your salary or wage (which I know you are working to increase) has the greatest impact on your ZIP code? Please, think hard. It’s there every day even though you don’t see it. Other people are looking at it. It’s mysterious and strange. You CAN change it. It’s your credit score.
When you ignore your credit score, it gets bogged down by errors in your credit reports, it gets depressed with someone else’s information and life history, and it absolutely 100% makes a difference in whether you rent or buy in one ZIP code or another. And thus, what ZIP code your kids (or future kids) will go to school in.
Do you have an obligation to get your credit reports - for free - and make sure they’re correct and accurate? To dispute any items that are out of date, are mischaracterized, or are not even you? I think you do. Did your parents do that for you? Would you be better off today if they had?
Go to www.annualcreditreport.com today to get your reports for free (because the Government makes the bureaus give them to you once per year). Check out my Free Video Series on credit reporting for some easy-to-digest information on what to do next - they’re short.
Do it for you, do it for your children, and do it for the future of your family. One small course correction early in the journey of your family’s future has a HUGE impact on where everyone will end up.
You are the captain and you have that power - today.
