© 2024 WYPR
WYPR 88.1 FM Baltimore WYPF 88.1 FM Frederick WYPO 106.9 FM Ocean City
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Relationships and Credit Scores - 11/9/15

Let’s say that you are single and want to make yourself appealing to others.  There are many things that one could do.  Sit-ups, learning Italian, or perhaps going online and creating a misleadingly positive profile.  These are all productive activities, but perhaps the best way to make oneself more attractive is to improve one’s credit score. 

Recent research from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve indicates that people with high credit scores are more likely to form a relationship in a given year.  By contrast, those with the lowest credit scores are approximately thirty percent less likely to form a relationship in a given year.  Moreover, people with high credit scores exhibited substantial positive assortative matching, which is a fancy way of saying that they tend to form relationships with other high credit score individuals. 

Perhaps most remarkably, the researchers discovered that when both partners enter a relationship with high credit scores, the chances that they’ll remain together rise.  Couples with the lowest initial average scores are two to three times more likely to separate than the couples with the highest average scores.  The researchers also argue that credit scores may be indicative of deeper qualities, like trustworthiness.

Anirban Basu, Chariman Chief Executive Officer of Sage Policy Group (SPG), is one of the Mid-Atlantic region's leading economic consultants. Prior to founding SPG he was Chairman and CEO of Optimal Solutions Group, a company he co-founded and which continues to operate. Anirban has also served as Director of Applied Economics and Senior Economist for RESI, where he used his extensive knowledge of the Mid-Atlantic region to support numerous clients in their strategic decision-making processes. Clients have included the Maryland Department of Transportation, St. Paul Companies, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Players Committee and the Martin O'Malley mayoral campaign.