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When your FICO score is calculated by credit bureau software, 15% comes from the length of your credit history. The length of your credit history is exactly what it sounds like; how long your credit cards have been open. Unlike other parts of your credit score, there is no quick fix to improve the length of your credit history. The only way to improve a damaged length of credit is over the course of years.

Since it takes an extended amount of time to build up your credit history, the best thing you can do is protect the length of credit you have already established. Here are 3 tips to help ensure your length of credit remains as long as possible:

1. Never close credit cards. If you must close cards as part of a financial recovery plan, close the newest cards first. If you close a card that is 10 years old, you lose all of that credit history length and will reduce your overall credit score.

2. In lieu of closing older cards with higher interest rates, use them less often then other cards. It is important to continue to use your card at least once every six months on small purchases like a tank of gas. Then pay off the balance in full. If you don't use your cards on a regular basis, credit card companies will deem your cards "inactive" and may stop reporting your card to the credit bureau and you will lose all of that established length of credit.

3. Even if your oldest card has an annual fee that you don't want to pay, keep the card open. It is worth the extra $70 a year to the tens of thousands of dollars a good credit score can save you. Avoid opening other cards with an annual fee to avoid this situation in the future.

By: Ann-Marie Murphy, Quizzle.com

If you’ve racked up a lot of debt on your credit cards, you’re not alone. In fact, of the 90 million households in the United States that own at least one credit card, the average debt totals a whopping $10,691, according to CardTrak.com.

Many of these households are only paying the minimum payments on their credit cards too. If that sounds like you, here’s some food for thought: If you carry the average credit card debt of $10,691 and only pay the minimum payments each month, it will take you nearly 33 years to pay off your balances completely.*

Clearly, the minimum payment method is not a great way to manage your debt. It’s time to start paying down your balances and rid yourself once-and-for-all of that perpetual black cloud. But where do you start?

If you have several credit cards – and many of us do – it’s smart to devise a payoff plan. There are two ways to do this that are widely talked about, each of which focus your energies on a single debt, while paying just the minimum payments on your other debts.

Keep in mind that these strategies will work for all of your debt, including auto loans, student loans and home loans, but for the sake of keeping it simple, let’s concentrate on credit card debt:

Focus: Highest Interest Rate

The first approach is to concentrate first on the credit card with the highest interest rate. If you’re not sure what your interest rates are, check your credit card statements or make a quick call to your credit card companies.

By focusing on the balance with the highest interest rate first, you’ll save the most money in interest in the long run. Make a list of your credit card debts in order of highest interest rate to lowest interest rate. When you’ve paid off the balance with the highest rate, check it off the list and move on to balance with the next highest rate.

While you’re focusing on a single card, make sure you’re also paying the minimum payments on your other credit cards. “Payment history,” or how reliably you pay your debt on time each month, has the largest impact on your credit score. Even a single late payment can take a toll on your score.

Not sure what your credit score is? You can take a peek at your credit score for free – plus your Experian credit report – at Quizzle.com.

Concentrating on the highest interest rate first, then moving down the ladder, is the soundest strategy financially, but often takes a lot of patience. If you think you need a little extra motivation and the benefit of small wins along the way, the next method might be better for you.

Focus: Lowest Balance

The second approach is to focus on the credit card with the lowest balance first. If you’re a fan of financial author Dave Ramsey, this method may sound familiar; he calls it the “Debt Snowball Plan.”

By concentrating on the debt with the lowest balance, you’ll get to experience small successes more quickly with each credit card that you pay off. This method will help you to build momentum – like a snowball rolling down a hill – and for many people, helps keep the motivation to stick with it.

Similar to the first strategy, you’ll want to make a list of each of your credit card debts in order of smallest balance to largest balance. When you pay off the card with the smallest balance first, check it off the list and move on to the next smallest balance. Again, don’t forget to also pay the minimum payments each month on your other credit cards.

The Debt Snowball is for those who have a hard time mustering and maintaining the motivation to pay down their debt. While you’ll likely pay more money in interest over the long-term with this approach, the psychological boost you’ll gain may be just what you need to succeed in becoming completely debt-free.

Ultimately, the method you choose to pay off your debt is less important than getting started… right now. If you have a lot of debt, it will take time, patience and continued commitment to become completely debt-free, but the freedom you’ll experience by doing so is entirely worth it.

NOTES FROM MIKE KORTAS ON THIS TOPIC:

I wanted to add a few items to this that makes this important when purchase a home.

1) Paying off the lowest debt first also lowers the debt to income ratios for qualification faster. As it gets rid of the payment altogether when the higher payments usually carry more debt.

2) I do however think it is beneficial if you can transfer the high interest debt to the low interest card, thus hopefully making the high interest debt the lower balance, then of course, pay it off first.

3) DON'T FORGET: The key percentage of debt compared to high balance on your credit cards is 30%. Stay BELOW 30% of the available balance at ALL TIMES and your credit scores will benefit from it dramatically. 50% is also an important number, but not as important as 30%. Don't transfer so much debt to a credit card that you are near your maximum limit or it could adversely effect your credit.

4) If they will do it, increase your credit limits. Not so that you can go and charge more, but so that your percentage of the high balance is lower. This is an easy trick that helps get you below 50% or even 30% right away.

Call me if you want clarification on anything!!!

Wednesday's bond market has opened in positive territory following the release of favorable economic data and early selling in stocks. The stock markets are reacting to some disappointing earnings results and the same economic data that is fueling the early buying bonds. The Dow is currently down 175 points while the Nasdaq has lost 40 points. The bond market is currently up 10/32, which will likely improve this morning's mortgage rates by approximately .125 of a discount point.

The Labor Department reported this morning that December's Producer Price Index (PPI) rose 0.2%. This exceeded forecasts since no change was expected, meaning prices paid at the producer level of the economy rose a little more than thought. Because rising prices equates to inflation that hurts bond prices, this could have been considered negative news for bonds. However, the much more important core data reading that excludes volatile food and energy prices was unchanged from Nove mber's level. It was expected to rise 0.1%, making this good news for bonds and mortgage rates.

The Commerce Department gave us December's Housing Starts this morning also. They announced a much smaller number of new housing starts than analysts were expecting. This indicates that the housing sector was not as well as thought. Unfortunately, this data is not considered to be of high importance to the markets and has had little impact on this morning's mortgage rates.

Tomorrow morning brings us the release of December's Leading Economic Indicators (LEI). This late morning release will attempt to measure economic activity over the next three to six months. It is considered to be of moderate importance to the bond and mortgage markets. Analysts are currently expecting to see an increase of 0.7%, meaning that economic growth over the next few months should rise fairly rapidly. A smaller than expected increase would be good news for the bond market and mortgage rates, but a larger than expected rise could lead to bond selling and a minor increase to mortgage pricing tomorrow.

Also tomorrow morning is the weekly unemployment update from the Labor Department. They are expected to say that 440,000 new claims for unemployment benefits were filed last week. That would be a small decline from the previous week. Generally speaking, the larger the sum of new claims, the better the news for bonds. However, since this data only tracks a single week's worth or new claims, its impact on mortgage rates is usually minimal.

If I were considering financing/refinancing a home, I would.... Float if my closing was taking place within 7 days... Float if my closing was taking place between 8 and 20 days... Float if my closing was taking place between 21 and 60 days... Float if my closing was taking place over 60 days from now... This is only my opinion of what I would do if I were financing a home. It is only an opini on and cannot be guaranteed to be in the best interest of all/any other borrowers.