ABHISHEK AGARWAL | 2FEB 11, 2014, 11.22 AM | BusinessInsider.in

You know Valentine’s Day is approaching when all your “in-relationship” friends – friends with boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands, wives, secret girlfriends/boyfriends -have started making plans. Expensive plans! On the other hand, your single friends are complaining on how “single” they are.

I am almost 30, and if I had a secret sauce that could tell you on how to get a valentine, I would have had a valentine this year. In fact, I would have had a date last year or a year before last. So, this post isn’t about how to get you a valentine; getting the opposite gender fall head over heels for you isn’t my area of expertise. However, my sincere attempt in this article is to convince you that staying on top of your finances does add an attractive dimension to your personality.

Generally speaking, men place more importance on beauty, while women value social status and access to financial resources. When a girl is telling you that she values “personality” over the “looks”, what she really means is that she wants a guy with a fat bank account and a BMW in his garage. Yes, I know I am exaggerating a bit. Intelligence, sense of humor, and the ability to hold a good conversation are all very valuable traits to attract the fairer sex. But, one cannot rule out the importance of “financial security”. No one would want to marry a man who is not financially stable and cannot provide for his family. She dreams to raise a perfect family in that dream house of hers.

The course to financial security is not as complex as one thinks. The basic foundations are very simple – don’t spend more than you earn, always save a bit from your income, diversify your assets, take adequate insurance coverage, maintain good credit score etc. We understand some of these basics fairly clearly, but often overlook the importance of credit scores as credit scoring is a fairly recent phenomenon in India. The western world has been using credit scores to judge the financial credibility of an individual for last couple of decades – employers, landlords, banks, insurance companies, banks and financial institutions all use your credit scores to gauge your reliability.

So, what is a credit score? In India, Credit Scores are generally referred to as a Cibil Score. Cibil Score basically is a three digit number that predicts the likelihood of you defaulting on your loan obligations in the next 12-24 months. Higher the score, the more reliable you are! Banks and financial institution use your Cibil score before extending a loan to you. Even the employers are now asking for a 750+ Cibil score before extending employment. We are catching up with the western world and soon Cibil score will play an important role in determining your overall financial health. Thus, it is imperative to have and maintain a high Cibil score if you wish to provide the financial luxuries to your loved ones.

The next obvious question is where do I get my Cibil score and what can I do to ensure that I am on top of my game? Getting your Cibil Score is fairly straightforward. You can read our article here on how to get your Cibil Score. To stay on top of your Cibil game, just follow three basic principles –
· Get your Cibil Report and ensure your reports are absolutely error free
· Never miss a payment on any of your loan or credit card obligations
· Do not abuse your credit cards. Use a maximum of two credit cards and always pay before due date. Credit Cards come with the highest interest rate and when you carry balances on your cards, you not only pay high interests but also carry high utilization, which hurt your Cibil score.

Remember it’s all about signaling when it comes to attracting the opposite sex. Make sure you are in a 800+ club yourself before you ask an 8 or a 9 out. As far as I am concerned, I am rocking my 820 tag and going to an anti-valentine party this year.

Abhishek Agarwal is the Co-Founder and Director of http://www.creditvidya.com

Source : http://goo.gl/jiRLi0