Returning from the festive season with the knowledge that all your financial affairs are in order is an important step in getting your year off to a good start.

Many South Africans remain unaware of their credit records and the potential damage that a bad credit record could have.

A bad credit rating can have a major impact on the growth of your personal wealth and can lead to huge financial outlay in order to fix it.

In the January-February issue of Destiny Man, experts advise readers how to obtain a copy of their credit report and how to manage their credit record.

The magazine reveals some shocking details about South African indebtedness: for example, there are 18.8-million credit-active consumers in South Africa – and of those, 47% have impaired records. The average accounts-per-consumer is 3.5 and the number of enquiries made to credit bureaux for consumers seeking credit in April to June 2010 was 12.2-million.

According to the National Credit Act, every South African is entitled to one free credit report a year.

Find out how to get your credit report and what to do if it contains a nasty surprise inDestiny Man, on sale now at all good retailers, or download the digital edition at: www.destinyman.com.