Regularly reviewing a credit report should be at the top of the list of your personal financial habits. A credit report can act as a shining light into your financial background, helping reveal personal payment history and lending and credit worthiness. It can even serve as a sentinel against identity theft and consumer fraud.

Surprisingly, a high number of Americans don’t read their own credit reports. A 2016 survey by the Consumer Federation of America and VantageScore reports that 32 percent of Americans have never obtained a copy of their free credit report. As a result, they may be putting their financial health at risk. Not reading your credit report can cost you money, lead to loan and credit denials, and give fraudsters a head start on stealing your identity. There’s more. If you don’t check your credit report, you might miss a downtick in your credit score, which can lead to higher interest rates on loans and credit, and may even result in the loss of a job offer from employers who review credit reports when they vet employment candidates.

A credit report is a list of your present and past credit accounts and loans, as reported by businesses and financial institutions with whom you’ve done business. Those businesses may report your credit and loan history, including your payment history, to one or more of the three major credit reporting companies—Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. “A credit report is a history of everything you are doing with your credit now and what you have done with it in the past,” says Katie Ross, education and development manager at American Consumer Credit Counseling, a national financial education nonprofit located in Auburndale, Massachusetts. “A credit score mathematically represents the information in your credit report. Your credit report and score affect your ability to get credit and the terms/rates of that credit.” It’s important to note that your credit report and your credit score are not the same thing, and your credit report doesn’t include a credit score. (A credit score is really just a formula that turns the data in your credit report into a three-digit number.) There are lots of different credit scoring models. And even though federal law allows you to request a copy of your credit report every year—from each of the three major credit reporting agencies—the law doesn’t require those companies to provide you a free annual credit score.