Compiled by the Fair Isaac Corporation from data provided by the three major credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax and Transunion, your FICO score is a three-digit number, ranging from 300 to 850. This number is used by creditors to assess how likely you are to repay a debt. According to FICO’s website, 90% of all lending decisions made in the U.S. use their scores.

If you’re unable to secure traditional financing due to poor credit or timing restrictions, you may find yourself scouring the internet for alternative lending products like short-term installment and payday loans. Because the two types of loans have common features and significant differences, it can be difficult to determine which type of loan is best suited for your situation.

In a perfect world, everyone would start saving for retirement on their first day on the job. In that hypothetical utopia, all workers would max out their retirement funds, and there would be no worries about falling short or running out of money. In the real world, however, saving for retirement is not that easy.