steps to great credit

College students are usually bombarded with credit card offers. They often have little or no credit history, yet lenders see them as a decent risk because once they graduate they will likely have strong earning power. But lenders will typically offer them a low line of credit and a very high interest rate.

However, those who don't attend college could find themselves left out of the credit offers and in danger of falling into the little- or no-credit-history category.

The second vulnerable group is the immigrant population. That's because credit histories can't cross international borders. So if you live in Montreal with spotless credit and decide to move to Miami, you're starting from scratch with no credit history. "The U.S. is not synched up with other international systems," says Watts.

And there are several other groups that may fall into the no- or low-credit history category: