How often should you check your credit report?

Contrary to what you might expect, your credit report does not contain your credit score. But it does offer a lot of other valuable information.

Conceptual image of a stethoscope on top of a credit card, illustrating ideas around the health of one's credit
Routinely checking your credit report will help to monitor your credit health
(Image credit: J Studios / Getty Images)

You may not think much about your credit report on a daily basis, unless you are curious about your standing ahead of applying for a loan — or if something goes wrong, like a data breach or case of identity theft. Ideally, though, you should be keeping tabs on this report no matter what, as it is packed with important information about your credit history.

Routinely checking your credit report will help to monitor your credit health, but it is also a critical step if you want to "catch any errors or potential fraud," said NerdWallet.

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Becca Stanek, The Week US

Becca Stanek has worked as an editor and writer in the personal finance space since 2017. She previously served as a deputy editor and later a managing editor overseeing investing and savings content at LendingTree and as an editor at the financial startup SmartAsset, where she focused on retirement- and financial-adviser-related content. Before that, Becca was a staff writer at The Week, primarily contributing to Speed Reads.