Nowadays Our Identity Has Become Just A Number

A number might appear to be merely a mathematical figure. However, the truth is that numbers affect almost every aspect of our lives from the day we are born. In fact, you can only achieve as much as the number you become from the day you are born.

While you were away enjoying your weekend, I was busy thinking about you and how your success or failure in life, especially in the business world, significantly depends on your number or numbers. I was busy researching how your Social Security Number, credit score, business credit score and other crucial numbers in your life can be a curse or a blessing to you. And now I have thought it wise to share with you my findings. I hope they help you improve on your number, which the world considers your true identity.

From the very day we are born, we simply become a number, and this number becomes our identity. In fact, you are just a number, and nothing more.

A Social Security Number (SSN) is one of the numerous identifying elements that are used to compile our credit report. Whenever you apply for a loan—whether for business, personal use or development, or education purposes—your lender will definitely request for your credit report to gauge you.

Most Crucial Numbers in our Life

All of your identification information, including your Social Security Number, your age, the outstanding loans you have, your inheritance, and bank accounts and how much you have saved, are usually used to numberize your life. Other important identification information used to numberize our lives includes the date of birth, employer listings, previous address, and current address, just to mention a few. All of these are in terms of numbers – your number. Yes, this is how serious it is—we have all become just a number.

Why Your Social Security Number is very Important

Of course, we are given numbers immediately after we are born. For instance, your date of birth is recorded, your weight is measured, and you are used as a statistic to file reports of gender and birth-related reports. However, the most important number you acquire is the Social Security Number. You might share your birthday, weight and many other identification numbers with millions of other Americans. However, your Social Security Number is unique to you, and every American has his or her own.

All births in the United States are supposed to be reported to the SSA, or Social Security Administration. Your parent is supposed to apply for a Social Security Number for you shortly after you are born. Even though this is not a requirement by the law of the land, the SSN is very necessary for your newborn, especially if you want to open bank accounts in their name, purchase savings bonds in the child’s name, apply for government services for the child, obtain medical coverage in their name, or claim the child as a dependent when filing tax return.

Originally, the purpose of the SSN was to track your personal accounts within the American Social Security program. Today, your employee records, student records, patient records, and credit records are usually indexed by your Social Security Number. It is also used as an identifier for Americans.

Our Credit Score

More often than not, credit scores never get the attention and care they deserve from us because we don’t realize just how important they can be. It is only when we get to a point where we need a loan when we usually wake up to the realization that we have in one way or another ruined our credit scores.

You need to understand that your life and everything you do in any part of the world is usually being assigned a certain number. Your credit score is one of those important things that are calculated and given in number form, and it is this number that lenders, landlords, certain service providers and businesses may use to either condemn or accept you.

Your credit score is the only way for your lender to effectively assess your risk when you want to borrow money. Your credit score shows the lenders whether you are likely to repay the loan without defaulting or otherwise. A credit score is the number lenders use to determine the interest they should charge on your loans.

How Important is a Good Credit Score?

Your credit score is one of the most vital numbers in your life. You never know when you will need a loan. It is even more important if you are an entrepreneur and you either plan to start a business or you are already a business owner.

This is not an empty talk, my friend. It is real, not only in the business world but also in all aspects of your life. If you are a doubting Thomas and you still think I am only suffering from word diarrhea, then let me take you through some of the crucial roles that your credit rating plays in your life.

It determines whether or not you get a loan

Unless your parents saved you millions of dollars to start a business in case you ever turned out to be an entrepreneur, you will definitely need a loan to start a business. And however, how much money you have, all businesses go through hard times at some point in their existence. When such times hit, only a loan can save you and your company.
Like every business owner, you will apply for a loan to start a business, boost your business, or get it through difficult times. Depending on your credit score, lenders will either lend you money or condemn your business dream to death. With a good credit score, you will easily secure a loan for your business. But if your credit profile is wanting, no one will lend you money.

It determines the interest rates you will pay on loans

We are numberized using our credit scores because the numbers tell the world whether you are able to handle your own finances. A poor credit score means that you have a negative number on your name, and it simply says that you cannot effectively manage your own finances. It, therefore, means that you will not be able to manage other people’s finances.
Your credit score is also a very important number that lenders will use to determine your interest rate. If you have a good credit score, you will pay a relatively low-interest rate as compared to someone with a poor rating if any sympathetic lender ever decides to help such a person out. Paying a low-interest rate is great news to the growth and success of your business.

It can deny you your dream job

Of course, not all employers will do a credit check. However, if you are dreaming of holding a position that requires you to handle the finances of a company, then a good credit score will increase your chances of getting the job. On the contrary, bad credit will dent your chances of getting the job. In other words, your credit score is a number that your potential employer can use to condemn or recommend you.
If you do not want to be condemned, then you have no choice but to devote your life to keeping a very clean, impressive credit file because it is out of this file that a very important number in your life—your credit score—is born.

What number should you strive to achieve?

Generally, “good” is usually enough for most things, like when you are rating the taste of a sandwich, when a gym teacher is rating your kicking ability in kickball, and when you are trying to break your own record in the gym. Unfortunately, generally “good” is never ideal when talking about credit scores.

According to VantageScore and FICO, a good credit score should range from 700 to 749, while an excellent credit score is 750 and higher. So, which number would you prefer to be assigned to you as your identity in the world of credit scores? Most don’t want anything less than an excellent number, and I bet it’s the same for you. Strive to be assigned the excellent number if you want to be safe, and to be a successful business owner.

What number must you avoid?

Bad credit scores are what we must always avoid like a plague. It makes people and institutions assign you a terrible, unlucky number, which will deny you access to loans and credit cards. The number we are talking about here is 600 or below. In other words, bad credit ratings start from 600. When you have a bad or poor credit score, it means that you already have a fork on the road that will always haunt you whenever you try to realize your business dream.

Business credit score

A business credit score is another crucial number that lenders use to numberize your life as the owner of a company. Do you have a business credit card? If yes, then you most likely have the business credit scores. Most of us don’t really know about this. Business scores are more or less the same as personal credit scores, such as our FICO scores.

In the same way, FICO scores measure our personal creditworthiness, our business credit scores are numeric representations of our company’s creditworthiness. The score is produced by using the information extracted from your business credit report. Business lenders usually use your business credit score to predict your likelihood of repaying back their loans on time.

When you have a higher business credit score, it shows business lenders that your business is in the good books for paying bills in a timely fashion. It, therefore, goes without saying that if you have a higher business credit score, business lenders will easily lend you business loans. If you have a bad or poor business credit score, chances are that business lenders will label your company as an unreliable defaulter, and this means that you won’t get the business loan.

Conclusion

If you want to have an easier path for dealing with people, lenders, institutions, service providers and everyone else, work diligently to earn excellent numbers. As the world continues to numberize your life, don’t give it a reason to give you bad numbers that will only ruin your name and kill your business dreams. Keep your driver’s license clean, have an excellent credit score, and make sure your business credit score remains as high as it can be. This way, your life will be assigned great numbers, and everything will go much more smoothly for you.