In the premise of a memorable Black Mirror episode, every person has a “rating.” On an Amazon-like scale of 1 to 5 stars, your rating is based on how your fellow citizens score you after an interaction. So if you run into an old fling at the grocery store and share a delightful conversation and look good to boot, you’d probably get 5 stars, which would incrementally improve your overall rating. And this rating, in turn, determines everything from merchant privileges and discounts to your network of friends — in other words, it’s your all-in-one socioeconomic score.

Fortunately we’re not there (yet), but the next closest thing is your credit score. Designed to help lenders gauge your creditworthiness, your credit score is also used to evaluate you in all sorts of contexts like insurance underwriting, background checks by landlords, and even job applications. Yikes!

While a poor credit score can limit your options, a good credit score provides opportunities to invest in the things you love — your family, work, hobbies, and dreams. So let’s start by breaking down the essential need-to-know facts about credit reports and scores, and then we’ll look at healthy habits for managing and improving your credit.