He Spent 5 Years Trying to Achieve That Magic '850'

For five years, Steve Michell of Texas had a stellar credit score hovering in the 840s—but not a perfect score of 850, which drove him bonkers. And so the Texan who always paid on time and had no real debt started playing around with all of his credit cards, following expert tips to raise his credit. The Wall Street Journal follows Michell's journey, and his frustrations, as common-sense moves didn't seem to move the needle. "Yes, paying bills on time helps and maxing out cards hurts," the Journal notes. "But financially responsible moves such as closing old accounts can ding your score, while opening more credit cards can boost it." Next, Michell decided to repeatedly readjust the balances on each of his credit cards until he hit the optimal formula. Success finally came in the summer of 2023, when he opened up the Bank of America app he used to keep tabs on his credit.

"Congratulations! You have the highest FICO score possible," read the message waiting for him. Michell said that while using 6% of his $35,000 credit limit was considered too high of a balance, and keeping a zero balance was a detriment as well, the magic number that helped him reach 850 seemed to be a balance of between 0.5% and 1.5% of his overall credit limit. He was able to sustain that 850 score by keeping his balances in that range right before the banks reported to the credit bureaus each month. Tempted to try for 850 yourself? It may not be necessary to go to the lengths that Michell did—the Journal notes that, in terms of interest rates consumers can get, "there is not much difference between 750 and 850." Even Michell says his efforts were probably overkill. "My daughter gets the exact same credit-card offers I do," he says. "And she's had a credit history of about four years." More here. (More credit score stories.)