Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome to Money Gurus. I'm Matt Jaruf. We're looking for voices who bring practical insights, real case studies, and actionable strategies that help our viewers strengthen profitability, improve financial systems, and lead their business with confidence. We want to hear your story and help share it with a national audience. This is Money Gurus on NOW Media Television. Hello and welcome to Money Gurus. My name is Matt Jotav and I'm joined here with Harvard Harsh Jotav, my partner. This show is where financial intelligence meets execution.
So entrepreneurs stop guessing, start controlling their numbers and scale with confidence in today's fast moving economy.
Today, I am thrilled to have Ali Rubelkava, the founder and CEO of ficodiva. She's known for helping people turn credit from stress points into strategy.
She's built her work at the intersection of credit education, tax readiness, and real world business advising. Because the truth is, credit impacts what you can buy, what you can build, and how fast you can grow.
Ali, warm welcome to you.
Thank you for joining us on the show.
[00:01:14] Speaker B: Hi everyone. Thank you so much for having me. It's a pleasure.
[00:01:19] Speaker A: Great. Ali, let's start really where it really began before Fico Diva. What did your life look like? What inspired you to be where you are today?
And what did money represent to you at that time?
[00:01:36] Speaker B: You know, that's a great question. So I am first generation here. My parents are Portuguese and my father could make a penny cry.
And what I mean by that is that he was such a penny pincher that I used to have to beg for everything I wanted. And I mean, like, okay, I'm gonna go back to the 80s where when cabbage Patch Kids were a thing, it took me six months of begging for a doll to finally go down the Toys R Us and Biwa. So because of that and me being an only child, no siblings, I learned that money doesn't come easily. Even though my parents owned apartment complexes and worked really, really hard while they were here, I was never, and even as an only child, I was never a child who was just given things because I wanted it, I always had to work for it. And so once I began learning the value of money, I never took money for granted.
[00:02:43] Speaker A: Excellent, excellent response. I think a lot of our life journey reflects into the way that we do treat money as well.
[00:02:53] Speaker C: Ali, you have an amazing background and I was really curious, you know, what was the moment you realized credit isn't just a score, it's a system. And you decide to make this more of your mission.
[00:03:05] Speaker B: So that's also a great Question. So I actually fell into the credit world by accident.
And I say that because prior to the credit world, I was a licensed contractor for 15 years in the Bay Area.
And those of you who were around in 2008 remember when the economy crashed and a lot of people were losing everything.
So then I left the Bay Area, I moved here to the Central Valley, and unfortunately, I had to dumb down my resume to get a job.
And that became really difficult for me because the managers, once they would see my skill set, would be intimidated to hire me.
So I began moving my resume, shifting my resume to the job that I was seeking so that I would say the right things to land the job.
And then once I got in the job, the managers didn't like that. I learned quickly and efficiently.
And so they always tried keeping their foot over my head instead of allowing me to grow.
So I didn't like that. So I began thinking, okay, what do I know how to do that I've been doing my whole life, besides construction and other things that can really help people?
So I began investigating into credit repair and what that would look like. And what I found was that there was a lot of not so honest people in the space.
People who were giving false promises, people who were just taking people's money, people who weren't really educated, they just knew how to sell.
And I wanted to do something different for the community.
So I began investigating into what it took to become a credit repair company, which here in California you have to have a hundred thousand dollar bond. We have to be registered with the DOJ and the Attorney General's office, and we have to renew that annually.
So it's not something that can be taken for granted. And I have to say that between Bakersfield and Sacramento, I was the only licensed and certified credit repair agency, which was shocking to me to discover how many people were in the space that weren't being compliant with a lot.
So from that I was still working as a project manager for a construction company.
I was doing cabinets and other things, going out, doing field measurements and everything and doing my business on the side. So I would meet with clients after work.
I would work till 10pm and then the next day do it again.
Took me two and a half years of working full time at my project management job and running my business for me to finally take the leap of faith and give up my, my project management career. And now I've been in business 10 years.
[00:06:17] Speaker C: So, yeah, congratulations on 10 years. That's, that's quite a bit, quite a bit of success. There we see. Wonderful.
[00:06:24] Speaker B: Yes, thank you.
[00:06:26] Speaker A: I also love how you lead with integrity. I think that's something that we can often slip, but I think you put that front and foremost, which is very impressive.
[00:06:37] Speaker B: Yes, thank you. Yeah. Because like I tell even my employees, not all money is good money. If you know that there's something simple the consumer can do for themselves, educate them on how to do it. If you know it's something that you can help them with, take them on. If maybe the client needs bankruptcy, that's okay, you know, so it's about the client's experience and being truthful and honest with them and not misleading them in any way.
[00:07:08] Speaker A: I love that. I love that. And I had a question, Ali, just in terms of the consumer, you know, when somebody says I just need my credit score up, what's the deeper issue? You usually discover underneath that?
[00:07:24] Speaker B: So there's actually two underlining things.
The minute they say I need my credit score up, my first question is, how low are your scores? And when they tell me, my next question is, do you have any collections or charge offs? And if the answer is no, I know immediately they're maxed out on their credit cards.
And so by bringing down their credit cards to 30% or less of their credit limit, that will boost their scores within a matter of 30 days.
[00:07:58] Speaker A: Got it, got it. Excellent, excellent. And for, for any entrepreneurs watching, what is the real business cost of ignoring personal credit and treating it like it's a side part problem?
[00:08:13] Speaker B: So that's a great question as well because so there's, as you know, there's different types of business owners. We have our sole proprietors, our LLCs, single member LLCs, multi member LLCs, S Corps and C Corps. And so what they don't realize, especially our sole proprietors, is that even though you might be a sole proprietor with an ein number, everything's still tied to you. Your name, your social.
When it comes to the other entities, if your business hasn't been around for at least two years and you've already started business credit, you're going to be personally guaranteeing a lot of these loans or any type of, yeah, I guess, loans that you're pursuing for your business, even lines of credit.
So what does that mean? That means that if your personal credit isn't aligned and ready to take on that business debt, you can actually be harming yourself or paying higher fees. Like one thing I'm not a fan of are those merchant advances. So you have, you receive credit cards and they're like, hey, we're going to give you a loan based on your credit card receipts. And you're like, great.
But every time you batch out, they take their fees from that. Well, if you do the math, you're actually paying two to three times the amount that you borrowed because the interest is so high. And all the consumers focused on is, I have an immediate need. They're funding me now. I'll deal with it later. And that's not the right way to look at things.
[00:10:00] Speaker A: Excellent, excellent.
[00:10:02] Speaker C: That makes a lot of sense, actually. I mean, I, I think what I'm hearing also, Ali, is that you, you ground a lot of your work in financial literacy. I can see that you're, you know, part of your plan is to educate the public, make sure they're aware of their options, make sure they're not going to be taken advantage of. I mean, I really appreciate that. You know, I'm an educator myself. You know, I teach. And every time we see, you know, like, opportunities to educate clients, that goes a long way. You know, that part of it. And I really appreciate that. Thank you for sharing.
[00:10:32] Speaker A: Likewise.
All right, great, Ali. I've learned so much already.
This is phenomenal. And coming up next, let's break down the mechanics of how lenders read people, what actually will move a file. So stay tuned. We'll be back with our second segment with Ali. Thank you. We'll be right back with more financial insights, strategy and tools to help build a more profitable business. This is Money Gurus on NOW Media Television. And we're back with more financial insights, strategy, and tools to help build a more profitable business. This is Money Gurus on NOW Media Television. Welcome back to Money Gurus. If you want more conversations like this business, money, and real execution, watch NOW Media TV live on demand and on the NOW TV app.
And if you're on the move, you can catch the podcast version two, so you never miss an episode. We are back with Ali Rubelkava, CEO of FICO Divas. And in this segment, we're going to get a little bit more surgical.
What is this credit file? And what is the story behind the file that the lenders start to believe?
So, Ali, I'll start off with a question that I had. When lenders evaluate someone, what are they really looking for beyond the scores? What are the silent deal killers inside the file?
[00:12:02] Speaker B: So, again, a great question. Number one is predictability of repayment.
Number two is predictability or indicators of financial distress.
Number three is how much longevity does this consumer actually have to repay this debt? Is there a history of recent late Payments. What caused these late payments?
Are there a bunch of new inquiries?
Sometimes people think, oh, I'm just applying for credit. But they don't realize that inquiries are an indicator of financial distress. Because why are you running your credit so much? What's happening in your life right now? Why are you fishing for money?
And that's why even someone with an 850 credit score can be denied credit based on too many inquiries.
[00:12:59] Speaker C: That's interesting. And, you know, I think from. From my perspective, you know, I'm looking at your. Your process, right? And that's always been confusing for me. First of all, I'm glad you were able to kind of walk through what actually happens. But let's talk about utilization like grownups, right? So what range do you consider lender friendly? And what do you people misunderstand about paying cards down right away?
[00:13:25] Speaker B: So paying down a card right away does not hurt you.
What hurts you is when you have a bunch of credit cards that carry zero balances.
And I say that because think of your credit being asleep. So you have this credit card, $10,000 credit limit. You haven't used it in two years, perfect previous payment history.
But that card is now not helping your scores because there's been no utilization on it. And when you go 16 months to 24 months of not using a card, the bank can actually close it on you.
If the bank closes it on you, or you close the card yourself, it dings you 50 points.
So what I tell everyone is wake up your credit, and you don't need to charge a lot of money, but maybe charge a tank of gas and then pay it off the next month and then charge another tank of gas. But using those little baby balances in your favor tricks the algorithm, and. And it helps increase your credit scores.
[00:14:33] Speaker C: Wonderful. And you mentioned earlier about financial education, and you teach actually credit education, not just about disputes.
[00:14:43] Speaker A: Tell us a little bit about that.
[00:14:44] Speaker C: What do you talk about and what do you find your clients typically are getting most value from?
[00:14:51] Speaker B: So I really focus on revolving versus installment debt.
A lot of people are focused on installment debt, especially nowadays with the convenience of I can buy now, pay later.
And I really wish that these companies would make these more revolving debts instead of installment debts. But for some reason, they're opening all these installment debts. And what. What happens is I'm gonna pick on a $200 item that you clearly have money in the bank for. But there's the convenience of six months, same as cash.
So you go, you open this new account, you make the payments on Time. Six months later, you make the final payment. And what happens to that account? It closes on you. Because you just made the final payment. So whenever an installment that closes on you, it dings you 50 points.
So whenever, even like a car, let's say you purchased a vehicle or a house.
And now comes the glorious day where you finally get rid of that payment. You were never late, always made your payments on time, account closes, there goes 50 points.
So that's where revolving debt becomes key. Because revolving debt is, I could spend it, I could pay it, I could spend it, I could pay it. That's why it's revolving, right?
But we need to understand that revolving debt works like a teeter totter. Okay? If we don't use our credit at all, I want you to think that you're now at your level, right?
But the more I spend on that card, the more my scores drop, the less I spend on that card, the more my scores rise.
So when you think of debt up, scores down, debt down, scores up. That's how revolving credit works and impacts your credit scores.
So once you realize that people are like, oh my God, I've been doing this wrong the whole time. But that's because a lot of people say, well, if you have a thousand dollar credit card, you could charge $1,000.
You can but say that life happens and you have to max out that card.
Be aware of your statement ending date, not your due date. Statement ending date and due dates are two completely different things.
Because whatever balance you have on your statement ending date is what gets reported to the Bureau's, not the balance that you paid on your due date. So if life happens and you have to max out your cards, you want to pay it down at least two days before the statement ending date. And keep in mind that most of our banks are back east, so I'm in Pacific Standard Time, not Eastern Standard Time. So I tell my clients, pay them off before 2pm, allow that lower balance to report, and then the day after the statement ending date, you can use it again.
And that's a way to trick the system. But keep your credit scores high and your debt utilization low to help increase your scores.
[00:18:07] Speaker A: Excellent. Excellent. Allie, your experience is shining.
I have a question to move more into the process side of things. What's your process of reviewing a credit report? And what are the three sections you scan to spot maybe a fast win or versus a long fix?
[00:18:27] Speaker B: So it's not about fast wins or long fixes, it's about reporting errors.
One thing I look for especially is date of last payment.
So let's say that there's a charge off and the date of last payment was, let's say February of 2022.
So in the state of California and Texas, any debt older than today's date 2022 and older is not legally collectible by law because they only have four years to collect or take you to court. It could stay on your credit report for seven years, but they can only legally collect for four years.
Now other states like Arizona, Washington, Oregon, they're six year states. So every state has their own statute of limitations.
And the reason why I look for the date of last payment is because I look for red flag debt.
I know which accounts will sue and for how much.
And so when I look for red flag debt, if I see that hey, you owe ABC company this much money, it's still within statute of limitations, you can be sued for this debt. I automatically go into the court system and I look to see has a judgment been filed against you, is there? Maybe you haven't even, maybe you were just filed on and you haven't even been served yet. So I bring it to your attention, maybe your statute of limitations is going to expire in the next two months. Let's not touch your credit. Lay low until that time limit passes. And, and now let's start working on your credit. So there's a lot of things that you have to look for in order to when you're reviewing someone's report because there are a lot of red flag debts that are triggers. And so I will not take on a client if they're that close to the end of their statute of limitations to protect them.
[00:20:35] Speaker C: Interesting.
And maybe like what's one credit myth that's keeping high potential entrepreneurs locked out from approvals?
[00:20:46] Speaker B: I think that one of the myths is, is it's okay to charge, it's okay to max out your cards because I hear that a lot.
And it's actually the opposite.
Keep in mind installment debt is very different than revolving debt. Installment that's going to be your personal loans, your auto loans, your mortgage loans, your student loans, your. Just because I can loans. Anything that's a loan has an ending date.
Anything that's revolving is open ended as long as you stay within your credit limit.
So understanding that you need to keep your utilization low to increase scores is the biggest thing and also keeping your inquiries low.
Our goal is not to run our credit more than six times times in a year. And I've had people, and I'm not exaggerating with 10 pages of inquiries and I'm like, stop it.
[00:21:48] Speaker A: Great stuff, great stuff, Ali. And, you know, before we move on, if someone wants to learn your credit education approach or the FICO Diva roadmap, where should they start and what should they have ready before they reach out to you?
[00:22:03] Speaker B: Number one is you can visit our website, which is ficodiva.com f I c o d I v a dot com.
You can follow us on TikTok, on Instagram, at ficodiva, on Facebook @fico diva.
You name it, we're out there. We're on Twitter, also LinkedIn. But yeah, definitely reach out and, and remember, I understand that credit's scary, but it's okay because life happens to everyone.
So be more afraid of not asking any question than to be silent and harboring those ill feelings in your heart.
[00:22:42] Speaker A: Great philosophy, Great. Thank you, Ali. Okay, so up next, we're shifting from credit health to capital strategy. How to go from improving the file to actually securing funding without stepping on landmines.
Stay tuned. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. With more financial insights, strategy and tools to help build a more profitable business. This is Money Gurus on NOW Media Television. And we're back with more financial insights, strategy and tools to help build a more profitable business. This is Money Gurus on NOW Media Television.
Welcome back.
I'm here with Ali and we're now turning the corner. Getting your credit right is step one, but entrepreneurs want capital. In this segment, I'm connecting credit readiness to funding readiness.
Ali, when someone says I need funding, what do you need to know first to decide whether they're actually ready or about to be denied.
[00:23:45] Speaker B: So again, that's a great question.
When it comes to business funding, they need to understand that they need to already have established business credit. Now, your person, and I'm not referring to sole proprietors, I'm now focusing on LLCs, S Corps and C corps.
When it comes to business funding, you need to have a DUNS and Bradstreet account.
You also want to have an Experian business account.
So Experian business is very different than Experian, okay? Because this one's solely focused on your business entity, your ein.
When it comes to these types of accounts, you want to review what's on your credit report. On your business credit report. Now, a personal credit score goes up to an 850 FICO score.
A business credit score goes up to an 80 paid index score.
Now, with your personal credit, when you max out a credit card, it hurts you on the Business side, it doesn't hurt you. They want you to use your business credit. They want you to max it out. They want you to pay it on time because that starts building up your paid index.
And your paid index score is based on predictability of repayment of the debt.
So you really want to start either getting yourself a secured credit card with your business.
You want to start establishing your timeline because a lot of lenders want you to have at least two years under your belt before they start giving you big lines of credit. There are other lenders out there that might give you credit when you're under the two years, but they're very case specific. There are some nonprofit banks out there that work with new business entities that you also want to look into. But as soon as you form your business entity, get in with Duns and Bradstreet, which is dnb.com and also create an Experian business account, experian business.com account and start building up your business credit profile as soon as you can. Now, when it comes to purchasing a vehicle, your very first vehicle is typically going to be under your name and your business entity because your business credit does not have an auto Vantage score.
But by the time you buy your second business vehicle, because now you have a vehicle that's already reporting under your business credit through your business entity.
Now you could buy your second third car under the business 100% and not have your personal name attached to it.
So it's just things to think about.
[00:26:39] Speaker C: Absolutely. And I think, you know, like what I always get scared of is when I'm getting ready to look at credit is all the paperwork that's required, right? Paperwork. When you're buying a home or anything else, there's just a lot of paperwork. What are the most common paperwork gaps that you see that block approvals, even when the score looks great.
[00:27:01] Speaker B: And when it comes to our business owners bookkeeping, y' all need to do your bookkeeping. Okay. You'd be surprised how many business owners do not do bookkeeping. They don't have QuickBooks, they don't even do Excel. So a lot of your lenders are going to ask for a balance sheet and a profit and loss.
The balance sheet basically says, this is where all my banks, where all my bank accounts are. This is how much money is in each bank account at whatever given time that they request. And these are all of my assets or my machineries or things that I'm depreciating. All of that fun stuff your profit and loss says, this is how much Money I've brought in. These are all of my expenses categorized accordingly. And at the end, this is my profit or my loss.
So they want to see that you are doing your due diligence and managing your books because your books tell a story more than you think they do. A lot of business owners, especially in the beginning, are so focused on I made this much money.
And then they're like, why am I broke?
Well, if you're not focusing on your expenses, I'm going to pick on advertising, for example.
You spend a bunch of money on advertising.
If you're not categorizing your advertising expenses, if you're not paying attention to I spent money with ABC company and I got zero back in return, but I spent money with DEF company And I got all this back in return.
And shifting your money from ABC Company to DEF Company which actually made you money and this one cost you money.
You're not analyzing where your money's going and you're just gifting away hard earned money towards resources that are not helping you.
That's why bookkeeping is so vital and important. And also whenever you try to get a loan and they want to see that you're doing everything correctly.
[00:29:09] Speaker C: I love that you're speaking to a cpa. So I love what you're saying. Everything you said about bookkeeping and financial statements, love it. Thank you so much.
[00:29:16] Speaker A: Yeah. And I'm realizing, Ali, I don't know what I don't know. And the insights you're providing is going to make me book an appointment right away.
Ali, in your world, what's the difference between getting a line of credit credit and getting usable capital that really won't choke the business?
[00:29:40] Speaker B: So having a line of credit is, is there as a what if? What if I can't make payroll this week, I can tap into those funds and then I can pay it back as soon as money comes in.
Having money that you can spend on your business, that is also, that's not something that's revolving, whereas it's more of a loan and the line of credit is more of a revolving debt. So you can have this hundred thousand dollar line of credit. Never use it, but it's there just in case.
And then you have the loan that's been dispersed and allocated to you and you're using it.
So I personally like lines of credit because if life happens, you have it there as a cushion just in case. And as soon as you pay it back, it's available again alone, the loan, the money gets dispersed to you and you have to Pay it back no matter what.
So it's just, they're just two different things.
[00:30:47] Speaker C: Surely looks like they each have their own purpose.
And like, you know, and how do you help, like, entrepreneurs avoid stacking debt the wrong way, especially when they're trying to grow fast.
[00:31:00] Speaker B: So that one's harder because unfortunately, by the time they come to me, all the mistakes have been done.
So that's when I sit down with them and, and I actually have a client right now who comes into me monthly and we go over all, all of their expenses every month. And I go over, you know, okay, you spent money here. Was this a need, a want, or just because.
And I'm trying to create awareness into their spending habits.
Whereas now he just got a life insurance policy. He just got all these things that he wasn't getting before because now he's shifted his brain into, I'm not working off of survival. I'm now working with purpose.
And I think that's the main shift with people is they all tend to, we as humans tend to live off of survival mode instead of living with purpose. And we need to start shifting our mindsets.
[00:32:06] Speaker C: Incredible.
[00:32:07] Speaker A: Incredible.
Ellie, just a follow up. How do you help entrepreneurs avoid stacking debt the wrong way, especially when they're trying to grow fast and, you know, move forward?
[00:32:21] Speaker B: I think we just answered that.
[00:32:23] Speaker A: Oh, sorry. My apologies. I.
This is the question I really wanted to ask. What does funding timing look like? When should a founder. When. Sorry, when should a founder pull, push pause or rebuild before applying again?
[00:32:44] Speaker B: Again? It really boils down to the need. It really boils down to how.
What, what's the need behind it? Do you really need that money or is it, I just want it because someone said I could.
And I say that because I'm, I'm speaking with a lot of entrepreneurs who are like, I just saw this video and I can get all this money, so why not?
Well, because that money has to be paid back.
That money is not, is not a toy that you can get and put aside. And if life doesn't work out, you don't pay it because you don't want a lien on your business.
You don't want a lean against you personally.
And you have to protect what you're building.
You know, the, the whole purpose of having a business is building generational wealth for, for your family or for yourself or whatever is going to happen. So I think that people need to slow down and start analyzing.
Am I going after this money for a need? Like, am I trying to buy equipment so I could run a restaurant and be successful or am I just trying to get a loan because someone else said I could?
So I think it boils down to a lot of analogies and self reflection before they start looking into things.
[00:34:16] Speaker A: Excellent. Great.
Thank you, Ali, for those, for those very strong answers. Coming up in our final segment, bringing the AI economy into the room. Automation scams, digital signals and how they build financial power without getting played.
See you soon. We'll be right back with more financial insights, strategy and tools to help build a more profitable business. This is Money Gurus on NOW Media Television. And we're back with more financial insights, strategy and tools to help build a more profitable business.
This is Money Gurus on NOW Media Television.
I'm back with Ali Rubalkava. And this is where it gets real. We're in an AI powered economy and money moves faster than people's decision making. I want to close with what matters the most, how to scale intelligently while protecting your identity, your credit and your options.
Ali, what changes are you seeing right now?
Scams, synthetic identities, faster underwriting that everyday people aren't prepared for yet.
[00:35:29] Speaker B: So I'm not really seeing any synthetic identities as of yet. What I am seeing more of is targeted phone calls, especially towards our senior citizen community.
Or if you owe debt, like let's say back in 2010, that's not legally collectible anymore. And somehow these scammers are getting a hold of this information and they're calling people and they're saying, hey, if you don't pay this debt, we're going to take you to court or we're looking for you right now trying to serve you. And where I feel that people make mistakes is we as humans love to tell our stories. Okay. We as humans love to say, oh, yeah, well, back in 2010, I went through a divorce or I lost my job or life happened. And this is what happened. Instead of not telling our stories and saying when's the last time a physical payment was made on this debt and seeing if the other person even has the answer and if that timeline exceeds our statutes of limitations for the state, which now you know is time barred and telling them to pound salt because they can no longer collect on this debt, we start whipping out our credit card because we want to deal with this debt that happened to us back in 2010.
And that's where these scammers are benefiting from lack of knowledge.
And that's what I really want consumers to understand is if I'm gonna sue you, I'm not gonna call you and say, hey, Jane Doe, I'm coming to serve you. I'm just gonna show up and knock on your door and serve you. Okay? I've actually had people call me and say, hey, we're looking for you. We're attempting to serve you. I was like, really? What are you driving? I'm outside right now. I got red, curly hair. I got green eyes. I don't see you. Are you there? Are you there? You know, because I told you why.
But people get so intimidated and so afraid that they just whip out their credit card and pay.
And they really need to learn to protect themselves. Stop telling your stories.
Stop giving them a viable reason to.
Now I can call you and use your story against you to get this debt paid that you no longer owe.
So that's where I'm seeing a lot of consumer distress coming from, a lot of fraud coming from. And half of these people, they're not even in this country, but they're getting access to information.
So you really need to protect yourselves and don't just give in to a phone call.
[00:38:27] Speaker C: That really makes sense. And you know, Ali, if.
If I want to protect my credit like an asset. Right. What are maybe, you know, just going in line with what you just talked about. What would you recommend as maybe sort of like some routine or hygiene that, you know, consumers can take action, you know, kind of on a regular basis to ensure the credit stays spotless and avoid any of these type of issues?
[00:38:55] Speaker B: Yeah. So I really recommend using a credit monitoring software that monitors your credit every 30 days. And I say that because your creditors only pay to report to the bureaus once every 30 days. There are some free apps out there that give you updates every seven days. However, keep in mind that your creditors only pay to report once every 30 days.
Now, some credit unions, they only pay to report quarterly, not monthly.
So that's why you might say, hey, I already gave this bank two payments and they haven't updated my balance yet. Because they might be quarterly reporters and not monthly reporters. Keep in mind that your creditors have to pay to report your credit to the bureaus. Okay? So it's not something that's done for free.
It's something that they have to do.
You, as consumers, are relying so much on apps, which is a. Which is great, right? It's great because it gives you insight as to what's going on, but you're focusing on it. Like there's this free website. I'm not going to say any names, but a lot of you use it and it gives you Heart attacks every seven days. And I say that because it might drop your scores 100 points and then two weeks later your scores are up and you're having a heart attack because it just dropped you seven points.
And I mean, I'm sorry, 100 points. But keep in mind that those who are reporting you or updating you every seven days, they're directly connected to your creditors and not to the credit bureaus. So it's great that you're monitoring your credit and that you're paying attention.
But understand that those huge fluctuations in seven days, it's temporary, so don't let it scare you. But always be aware of. Is there a new address that just populated? Is there a new name that just populated? Is there a new inquiry that I did not initiate? Is there a new account that I didn't agree to?
Is there something weird that just transpired that I did not authorize? Those are the things you want to be looking out for.
[00:41:16] Speaker C: Very good. Ali, if I can ask a follow
[00:41:17] Speaker A: up question for you.
[00:41:18] Speaker C: Do you have to go to each credit bureau individually to actually do the follow up? I mean, do you have to go to Experian and then go to one of the other ones to actually see if they're managing a credit? They are like, you know, taking into account any false issues or any, you know, potential new credit applications that you're not aware of.
[00:41:37] Speaker B: So you don't. I actually use an app. It's. It's called and I'll give you guys my link. It's a discounted link.
The first seven days it's only $1.99 and then it becomes $22 a month. But it updates you every 30 days and it also gives you all three credit bureaus every 30 days.
And that's if you go to smartcredit.com forward slash FICO FICO DIVA DIVA seven day.
That will give you $1.99 for your first seven days. And you could see all three bureaus. And the cool thing about that website that I really like is that it has a credit score simulator on it. So let's say you have all of these revolving debts and maybe your scores are low. You can actually go into that app and you can, it'll tell you like, hey, if you want to pay off this card by this day, by this amount, you're going to get back this many points.
So it kind of helps you see. So maybe you're in debt $10,000, but you only have $1,000 to pay towards debt this month. You can bring Bring it down to the thousand dollars and it'll tell you who to pay by, how much to help you maximize your scores. So it's a fun little tool to have in use.
[00:43:01] Speaker C: That's wonderful, Ellie, if you don't mind mentioning that website one more time in case somebody missed it the first time.
[00:43:07] Speaker B: Yeah. So it's smartcredit.com forward/fico F I, C O, D, I V A, the number seven and then the word day, seven days. So fico diva seven day. And that'll give you the discount for the first seven days. So you can see what's on all three bureaus at once.
[00:43:29] Speaker C: Wonderful. Thank you very much.
[00:43:31] Speaker A: Excellent, Ali. Now switching to everybody's favorite word these days, AI.
Where do you see AI helping consumers and entrepreneurs the most, whether it be in education or budgeting, dispute tracking, underwriting, readiness, and where is it dangerous?
[00:43:51] Speaker B: So I feel that AI is becoming dangerous. So it's helpful because I like using AI for marketing. I like using AI to maybe finesse some words that I'm thinking sometimes you might want to send out a not so friendly email. And AI makes it sound very friendly and professional.
But where I don't like is I've had clients, clients this year especially say, hey, I just did my taxes. And I used this AI software to help guide me through it. While the AI software doesn't know you personally, it doesn't know what's going on with your life. It's generalized.
So while yes, you could potentially use it for some things, keep in mind that it's a computer that was programmed by a human to give you resources, whereas you need to educate yourselves as to what your purpose is behind using the AI. Yes, it's convenient, but is it always a hundred percent?
No, because anything behind an AI, a human programmed it, so you need to keep that in mind.
So that's where common sense comes in. And don't rely so much on artificial artificial intelligence.
Whereas you need to rely on your own intelligence and your own resources.
[00:45:35] Speaker A: That's well said. That's very well said, Ali. If someone is ready to take control, credit, funding, financial confidence, what is the next steps you want them to take? Maybe this week,
[00:45:52] Speaker B: Number one, run your credit. See exactly where you stand. Number two, if you own a business, get your books in order, let's start doing your business bookkeeping. Let's get everything done. If you don't know how to do bookkeeping, we. I also teach people how to do bookkeeping, or we offer business bookkeeping at our office as well.
But get your books in order, because I, I have a client right now who just got denied on a business funding because their balance sheet wasn't accurate. And then they went into AI to create a balance sheet showing that they had a million dollars of income when bank statements don't reflect that.
So you have to be careful because underwriters are all about the risk assessed with the loan.
So protect your industry, protect what you're striving for, because at the end of the day, it's your business, it's your money, and that's what's going to make you or break you.
So. And I don't look good in orange. I know you don't look good in orange. So,
[00:47:11] Speaker A: Ali, I wanted to sincerely thank you for coming on to Money Gurus.
I think what resonated with me was your passion. First of all, I think you're a constant learner and on top of your game, your intelligence. You really know this industry and this expertise. And I love that you brought up integrity in the forefront. I think those are amazing combinations.
And to everyone watching, don't wait till you need credit.
Try, try to be proactive about that and build your credit score. Take this seriously. Reach out to the experts such as Ali to help you build a resolution plan.
And I just wanted to say this is very enlightening for me and I hope it was for the audience as well. And I want to thank you, especially Ali. You're. You're amazing.
[00:48:08] Speaker B: Thank you so much. Thank you guys for having me.
[00:48:10] Speaker C: Ali, nice to have you. Nice to meet you. Thank you so much.
[00:48:14] Speaker B: Nice to meet you, too.
[00:48:15] Speaker A: Great. Well, thank you everybody for tuning in to Money Gurus. Until next time, we'll see you then. Thanks for watching Money Gurus. And I'm Matt Chadhav, host of Money Gurus on NOW Media Television.
[00:48:26] Speaker B: Sam.
