When becoming informed about what affects your credit score, it’s just as important to know the things that don’t have an impact on your credit score?either positive or negative?as it is to understand the factors that can help or hurt your credit. Here is a look at five things that surprisingly won’t affect your credit rating.

1. Certain Monthly Payments
Paying your rent and utilities on time won’t help or hurt your credit. However, if you fall so far behind on payments that you are sent to a collection agency, it will have a negative effect on your credit rating.

2. Bank Overdraft Fees
Accidentally charging too much on your debit card can be a pain when you consider the hefty fees that you incur, but it won’t hurt your credit. Just like all your other bills, overdraft fees are only reported to the credit bureaus if they remain outstanding long enough to get sent to a collection agency.

3. Income and Employment Status
As long as you are consistently able to repay your creditors, the bureaus that calculate your credit score don’t care whether you make a lot of money?or if you’re employed at all. Your income has no impact on your credit score, though prospective lenders will always verify your employment status on their own before considering you for a loan.

4. Age, Race, Sex, and Religion
Everyone knows that credit bureaus aren’t allowed to discriminate based on factors like race, sex, and religion when factoring your scores. On the other hand, many consumers are surprised that age doesn’t play a part because young people often have more difficulty obtaining credit cards and loans than older individuals. In fact, it’s actually the length of your credit history that makes it easier for more experienced borrowers to secure credit; younger consumers usually don’t have much credit history to bolster their scores.

5. Checking Your Own Credit
Many consumers have heard that too many inquiries into your credit can hurt your score. While it’s true that too many inquiries into your credit from other people or companies can ding your credit, this does not apply if you are checking your own credit score. Most financial analysts will agree that you should check your credit rating regularly. By staying on top of your credit reports, you can catch any errors before they hurt your rating.