WESTLAKE, Ohio -- Tom Pavelka has a nice 3,000-square-foot home in Westlake, a good government job, two British sports cars and an adoring wife of 25 years.

But he has one more thing that most people would really, really love to have: a credit score that is higher than almost everyone else in the country.

Pavelka, 56, has a credit score of 848 out of 850. The letter he got from the credit bureau recently said his score "ranks higher than 100 percent of U.S. consumers."

That makes Pavelka a financial anomaly.



While an 848 isn't a perfect score, it's as high as most experts have ever seen.

"I don't know anybody who has a perfect credit score," said Rod Griffin, director of public education for Experian, one of the three major credit bureaus, whose California company provided the basis for Pavelka's score.

"It's almost impossible to have a perfect credit score. If you use credit and you have debt, there's always some risk you will not be able to repay it," Griffin said. "You could become ill, you could be in an accident that's not your fault. Because there's always some risk from things beyond your control that you won't be able to repay the debt, you won't have a perfect credit score."

Maybe not, but Pavelka is feeling pretty good about himself.

Interestingly, the career government employee has never obsessed about his credit score - he can't remember the last time he checked it or what it was then.

High achievers deserve credit

Fair Isaac Corp. calls people with a credit score of 785 or greater a "high achiever." Here are some of the characteristics of high achievers:

They have an average of seven credit cards including both open and closed accounts.

They have an average of four credit cards or loans with balances.

One-third of high achievers have total balances of more than $8,500 on non-mortgage accounts; the remaining two-thirds have total balances of less than $8,500.

96 percent of high achievers show no missed payments anywhere on their credit report.

They seldom open new accounts. Their oldest credit account was opened an average of 25 years ago and their most recently opened credit account averages was 28 months ago. Overall, their average credit account is 11 years old.

Source: Fair Isaac

He also is a financial paradox:

* For years, he and his wife carpooled 16 miles to work (he to downtown Cleveland, her to Euclid,) in part so that he could avoid paying for downtown parking and avoid racking up miles on another car.

Yet, the couple have seven vehicles, including two 1960s British sports cars and a 1958 Corvette. All of their regular vehicles have $100 per year vanity plates. ("Eat Hot" and "Eat Heat" shows their passion for spicy foods.)

* The Palvelkas own a 65-inch television, but not high-definition cable nor high-speed Internet access.

* They eat out frequently at nice restaurants and take pride in their collection of vintage red wine, but their frequent vacation spots are Columbus, Chicago, Pittsburgh and Niagara Falls (Pittsburgh's "very eclectic Mattress Factory Art Museum is must-do," he said.)

Tom Pavelka, an assistant district director at the Department of Labor's Office of Workers' Compensation in Cleveland, has no doubt that some of his ability to manage his finances easily stems from the fact that the couple have no children -- just Freddie, a cat from a shelter. They can charge a couple of thousand dollars on a credit card and easily pay it off the next month.

But having a credit score that is nearly perfect takes a little more than that. While the couple makes a comfortable living, anybody can live beyond his means. They don't.

He has a few simple rules:

1. Never charge something without having something to show for it.

2. Never spend money without knowing when you can repay it.

3. Pay your bills on time.

You might think you have to have no debt to have a really high credit score, but that's not true. Credit scores are formed in part based on your payment history. If you never have debt, you have no track record for repaying it.

In fact, the Pavelkas have a mortgage (with four years left,) an equity line that he usually uses to buy cars and then pays off, four credit cards with amounts due this month (they pay the bills in full each month) and a total of eight credit cards with available credit exceeding $120,000.

Pavelka and his wife weren't always so well off. He grew up in Cleveland, off Buckeye Road, raised with his brother by his single mother after his father died when he was 1. The three lived in the upstairs of a house owned by his grandfather, surviving on Social Security and VA death benefits. His wife, Helga, an immigrant from Austria, had a similarly tight upbringing.

He attended college at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, thanks to scholarships, financial aid, Pell grants and work-study programs. He started as a math major, but that was too theoretical, he said. So he switched to philosophy and intended on going to law school. But when he graduated in 1978 and got a $10,000-a-year job at the Veterans' Administration, he was so mesmerized by actually having money that he didn't want to go back to school.

Pavelka said he always managed his money well as a bachelor but did occasionally carry a credit card balance. When he got married in 1987, "my wife kind of kicked me in line," he said. Today, he said his wife still has veto power over his "fun" purchases. He defied her once - when he bought his Harley in 2005. ("To her credit, her concern was more my safety than expense," he said. "So although I already had my motorcycle endorsement for 20 years, I took Harley's Rider's Edge training course.")

More from Tom Pavelka

Pavelka found out about his stellar credit score after he went shopping recently at Bass Pro Shop outside of Toledo. Pavelka is an avid hunter, and the store had a sale on a piece of equipment. Plus, if you used a Bass Pro credit card, the store would pay your sales tax, which would amount to more than $50 for his big purchase.

Pavelka soon learned he did not have a Bass Pro credit card. They invited him to apply for one. They'd give him 10 percent off. Sure, why not? He was immediately granted a credit line of $6,500.

He put part of his purchase on his new credit account and paid the rest with Bass Pro gift cards he bought at Giant Eagle (during a double Fuel Perks promotion). He bought the gift cards with his BP Visa credit card, which gives him gas rebates.

Two weeks later he received his credit score disclosure: 848 out of 850. "Generally, the higher your score, the more likely you are to be offered better credit terms," the letter said.

What is a credit score?

A credit score is a three-digit rating that's intended to show how likely you are to not become delinquent on payments, based on your payment history, amount of debt, length of credit history, etc. Higher is better.

FICO scores (the best known and the ones lenders generally use) run from 300 to 850. Anything above 720 is an A. About half the population has A-minus or better credit. Historically, about 10 percent of the population has an 800 or better. Nearly 25 percent of consumers have a rating of C or below.

To check your credit history, go to annualcreditreport.com It is free once a year from each of the three credit bureaus only if you go through this site. Or you can get it free by calling 1-877-322-8228. Or send a request with your name, Social Security number, date of birth, mailing address and previous mailing address (if current address is less than two years old) to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281

Your credit report, however, does not include your credit score. You must pay to get that, generally $8 to $10. Instructions are included when you get your free report. If you're checking your report and score for the first time in a long time, go with Equifax.

Pavelka isn't sure what the other part of the letter means, that his score is "higher than 100 percent of U.S. consumers." Fair Isaac spokesman Anthony Sprauve said it does not mean he has the absolute highest score in the nation. There are other 848s, and even 849s and 850s out there. But his score is higher than perhaps 99.7 percent of consumers and the disclosure letter simply rounded up.



Cleveland credit guru Jay Seaton, president of Consumer Credit Counseling of Northeast Ohio, said it's possible Pavelka's near-perfect score was the ultimate alignment of the planets. If someone had checked his score a week later, or today, it might be only 835. Or it could be 849. Credit scores swing slightly on what bill you just paid or what you just charged.

"Maybe it's not a needle in a haystack, but it's close," Seaton said, adding, "What's fascinating to me is he is living the life, the way he wants to. But he has sense. That gives you a score you can be proud of."

Although banks have been good to Pavelka, he revels in lashing out at them. He mischieviously recalls a time in the 1980s when he couldn't get his credit card companies to give him actual payoffs, including interest, for his accounts. So he calculated the amounts themselves (he was a math major) and intentionally overpaid by 1 or 2 cents. That forced the companies to continue sending him paper statements and paying for postage so they could show his credit balance.

He also laughs about all of the credit card offers his late cat, Roxie, got after they used her name at a Toys R Us promotion.

Griffin of Experian said Palvelka is a testament to the advice the credit bureaus frequently cite: "Don't worry about your credit scores. Worry about managing the credit you have and worry about your credit history. If you do that, the scores will take care themselves."

Palvelka realizes his spending may increase a bit in two months, when he retires from the nearly-90-person office he helps run. His wife, a hematology supervisor who is 58, has several more years before retirement, so she won't be around to keep tabs on his hunting hobby and car-buying.

Despite his penchant for rebates and killer deals, and the fact that he has a 2-year-old Droid and used Rolex, Palvelka is adamant about one thing:

"I don't like being called frugal," he said. "I like to spend money. I just do it wisely."

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: tmurray@plaind.com

On Twitter: @teresamurray