Bragging about a high credit score? That’s lame.

Don’t get me wrong, having a really bad credit score doesn’t make you look good either.

But what does a good credit score really mean?

According to Credit Karma, your credit score is a three-digit number that predicts how likely you are to repay debt. I don’t think that’s a very accurate definition. It doesn’t take into account your responsible character, the amount you have in savings, your assets, the existence of wealthy family members to help in a bind, your employability, etc. (What number could measure all that?!)

Some scoring methods may look at your income or utility bills to calculate a score, but for the most part, the credit score is solely calculated based on how you handled previous debt.

WalletHub says your credit score is, “your credit history expressed as a number,” which is a much better definition.

Essentially, having a good credit score means you are good at being in debt. It may even mean you’ve been in more debt than your peers that have a lower score. It means that overnight, you could suddenly have a $50,000 debt, while your buddy with the lower score could only manage a $5,000 debt. Real winner.

To put it really dramatically: the better your credit score, the better you are at being a financial slave and living outside of your means.

Credit scores have nothing to do with wealth.

There’s a myth that permeates financial education in America saying that young people must “build good credit.” The way to do this is by first opening a credit card and paying back the balance each month. Next, when you get a little older, you should take out a small auto loan and ultimately, when you go to buy a home, you’ll have established good credit to qualify for the best mortgage possible.

The gist of it is: Go into debt so that later you can go into the maximum amount of debt possible.

As I said, having a really low credit score means you 1) made a bad decision about getting into debt and 2) made another bad decision about getting out of it. But having a great credit score still tells me you probably made a bad decision or two or many!

I don’t check my credit score anymore. I don’t care. I don’t have a credit card and don’t plan to get one. I don’t need a mortgage, I don’t need an auto loan. Lucky me? Not really, I just made some difficult decisions over the last five years to delay gratification and only pay for things in cash.

I’m not a millionaire and I’m still a newbie at a lot of this money stuff, but one thing I can tell you for sure: I’m not impressed by a high credit score.

This article is for informational purposes only, it should not be considered Financial or Legal Advice. Not all information will be accurate. Consult a financial professional before making any major financial decision