future. our stephanie elam is here to debunk the myths. very important, you call it a piece of your financial dna, it's that important, huh, steph? >> it's so huge, suzanne. a lot of people don't realize it, but you've got to tend to it. if you've ever been denied a car loan a mortgage, maybe a new line of credit, you can chalk up a good part to the credit report. the average consumer has 13 credit obligations on record at a credit bureau, that means it's essential to check your credit report and see what they're seeing. to do it, head to annualcreditreport.com and you can check with all three bureaus, equifax, experian and transunion once a year for free. there's a lot that factors into your credit history, and we debunk some of the myths. the first myth, your income is tied to your credit reports and scores. that's not true. your salary isn't on your credit report and hasn't been since 1990 when the bureau's purged that info from the report. as long as you pay your bills on