Here's something funny I recently stumbled upon - did you know Walt Disney and Abraham Lincoln both declared bankruptcy? Well, "Honest Abe" went bankrupt in more ways than financially (and I'm not talking about the whole assassination thing either), but I'll save that for a political blog.

There's also 13 factors that, despite what some may think, absolutely do not affect your credit score. I was pretty surprised about a couple of them too.

Some of these facts of your financial past are considered on a loan (if your score is low enough they even look at it), but do not calculate into your credit score at all. Things like how long you've lived in one place, salary, rent, alimony, occupation or employment history, and current interest rates on any open accounts might affect a loan, but don't touch your credit score.

Some of the others are fairly obvious - your level of education, age, gender, race, or any other such fact of you protected by law are also not counted in your credit score. However, there are three others that have been a matter of debate.

If you're late on a payment less than 30 days, that doesn't count against your credit score. If you're late on a utility payment, that too doesn't count against your credit score unless it goes to collections. Same goes for bounced checks - again, unless it goes to collections, your credit score is unaffected.

In case you're wondering how long bad things stay on your report - bankruptcies stay for up to 10 years, inquiries fall off every 2 years, and leins stay 7 years after they've been paid off. Fortunately, it can take as little as 2 years to get good roots in credit, so don't dismay. It's never too late to improve your credit score.