Lenders and landlords and even employers rely upon credit reporting agencies to help them with decisions on whether to do business with you. If your credit report shows that you don’t handle your own money well – they are wary you’ll handle theirs prudently. It can pay to keep your credit spotless… even after you retire.

In retirement you’re probably not taking out loans, nor are you applying for a job. You may think that you no longer need to keep close tabs on your credit. But there are some very good reasons to continue to check your credit report. And the main purpose would be to protect yourself from fraud and errors – both of which can leave your finances in ruins. 

Millions of Americans have had their personal financial information breached by a system hack, or a careless employee. If you’ve received an offer for that institution to monitor your credit ‘free’ for a year or two as ‘compensation’ for the hack – take advantage of the offer!

If you don’t have free credit monitoring – you’re allowed to receive one credit report per year from each one of the three major credit reporting agencies. That means you can get three free reports. I would suggest that you space them out over the course of the year. Go to ‘annualcreditreport dot com. 

If you’re retired, you’re a target for identity theft. The reasons may be evident: older Americans often have a lot of money because they’ve saved their entire lives for retirement. And as we age, our cognition declines and we might be more susceptible to being dupped into a financial scam.

Check your accounts for errors. They do occur. I have corrected a few on my credit report. Or you may find an unpaid bill that you inadvertently missed. And finally, you might need credit at some time in the future.