It is amazing how many people are totally clueless about credit and their rights. I tell people all the time to NEVER PAY A COLLECTION AGENCY and they look at me with this confused look on their faces.
if you pay a collection agency - only pay for the following "paid for deletion"
this way they will delete the collection off the credit report, and its poof gone! not all collection agencies will do this,
if you just pay a collection - your credit report will show "collection" paid and that is it.
the reason i am anal about my credit report for 2 main reasons
1. I will sometimes take out a small personal line for marketing/expenses for work
2. I am all about buying small/cheap rental homes and you need A+ to finance investment homes, I dont have a pension, SSI is a pipedream in 40 years, 401ks well..if you work for the same employer for 25 years and they match it - then it is a good tool but i do not have that so my retirement plan is passive/rental income. every few years, add another unit - goal is to have them paid off at retirement and live off passive rental income with a basket of properties.
being in real estate/lending - i know this market/this is what i do for a living. i am a fan of cheaper single family homes for rental income -
i do alot of reverse mortgages for retired folks - retirement is scary as fuck - most ppl and even more so baby boomers will outlive their income savings - hence i am looking playing the passive rental income game. i am far from a baller, but slowly looking to add rentals as that is my "end game plan" with my savings/retirement
i personally would be better off with passive income than a "nest egg" i have 35 years - 40 years before i plan to retire so i have time.