You can have a lousy FICO score for a lot of reasons other than being poor, but it's expensive to be a lot of things in the US. And in some states some surprising people get protected. For example, it is perfectly legal to discriminate against overweight people. Only Michigan and a few cities (naturally, San Francisco) prohibit not hiring someone or firing someone because the employer thinks they're too fat. Employers are allowed to charge you more for benefits if you have an unhealthy lifestyle, like you smoke. California, to name one state, has banned questions on job applications about criminal records. In California you're also not allowed to ask for previous salary information. But if you're in red states often anything that's not federally illegal is fine with them. FICO scores, criminal records, medical histories, whatever. A lot of people get pretty far down the road before they realize that life is easier if you straighten up and fly right.
There was a guy at the gym a couple of weeks ago who I overheard complaining about money issues to a friend of his. I would guess the complainer was in his 20s. He had what looked to me like thousands of dollars worth of very artful ink on his arms and legs. Who knows what I couldn't see. Perhaps jinjuku should start a youtube channel about investing versus tattooing.
