Same here. I paid cash for the car and bikes so no record there. All the cards are on autopay so they're not making any interest money off me. It hangs at the same number every month. I think it went down a couple points pre-covid when I went back east and had about $1000 in gas and motel charges.
I just went to a part time arrangement but I'm not retired. I filed for SS when I hit 70 but I don't remember that changing the score any.
I'm currently at 827. Been in that range for a more than a few years. Moves up and down a point or two every now and then.
Multiple credit cards open, but I only use one - for literally every purchase - and it gets paid off automatically every month.
About 18 months ago I co-signed a mortgage for a family member to the tune of $350K. He makes all the payments. My credit score barely even wiggled when that loan hit my report. That part I don't quite understand, but I'm not complaining.
Your advice is not wrong but some people will still need to use credit to buy gas to go to work.
Pretty much the same here, but using the others every six months or so just to make sure they're still processing ok.
I favor my Amazon card (5% for Amazon) but use others depending on the promotions. Discover has 5% rebate programs, this month it was gas. I have a Visa from my local bank that is 3% for gas and groceries all the time. I've had a Shell gas card for 40 years and it gives me 5 cents off at the pump but also has a promotion of $30 credit when you spend $150 by end of July.
I took a trip this month and the gas rebates will be about $60.
Your cards sound like mine. Takes a smart phone app to just know what card to use when and where. I got 2 credit cards just because they gave back $ 100 to $ 200 for getting them and spending so much in 3 months.
I do not recall. It was over 10 years ago. I did not care about a score anyway. With 3 or 4 major cards and that many store cards the number now is just over 800.
While a FICO over 800 is labeled as "Exceptional" by some of the credit bureaus, you might want to care about it at least some though.
In my state for example, FICO is one of several factors that insurance companies use to bump up or reduce premiums across several kinds of coverage.
My auto insurance carrier also uses your education level in rate calculation!
In my case, how could I raise my credit rating if I paid off my house thirty years ago, pay all credit cards off at the end of the month and buy cars and other expensive items for cash?
I can lower car insurance cost by taking triennial driving safety course.
I do the same things and yet my credit score slowly crept up to 825+ over the past few years. I recently co-signed on a $350K mortgage and my credit score didn't even wiggle.
Credit card companies and banks bombard me with offers, even though I haven't paid one penny in CC interest in decades. I can only assume that they want me to use their card so that they can collect vendor fees, because they sure aren't going to get any interest or annual fees from me.
Here's what Credit Karma says about me:
All your factors are in great shape. Nice work!
Payment history HIGH IMPACT
100% Percentage of payments you've made on timeCredit card use HIGH IMPACT
9% How much credit you're using compared to your total limitsDerogatory marks HIGH IMPACT
0 Collections, tax liens, bankruptcies or civil judgments on your reportCredit age MEDIUM IMPACT
14 yrs, 4 mos Average age of your open accountsTotal accounts LOW IMPACT
15 Total open and closed accountsHard inquiries LOW IMPACT
1 Number of times you've applied for credit .
Your post said you didn't care about your FICO. All I meant was it's good to just keep an eye on it. I don't see how you could raise it any-- and even if you did, all you'd add is bragging rights.
In the late '70's, I signed a 30 year mortgage at around 7% and change.
In 1980-81 when the rates soared to 18%-19% under Carter, the S&L that held the note made me an offer I couldn't refuse. They said they'd drop my rate 2% if I doubled my monthly payments and that I'd be out in 50 or so months...and I was!
Sure is nice not having a mortgage :-)
I pay a week early just so I know it'll be there on time. I'll get a warning from my bank if a payment didn't happen (always has) so I'll have time to take care of it before the due date (never had to).
Mine was in the same time frame at 9% for twenty years with over fifty percent down and I paid it off before 18. Nice not having a mortgage but today property taxes are about what I paid for the mortgage.
Depending on what I actually have on the CCs my score floats between 824 and 828. I guess it depends on the day they look at the accounts.
Used to be, you did not want to pay early because you were earning interest in your accounts. Those days long gone so I pay when the bill comes in' no benefit to waiting.
I may be moving some cash around soon. Now that the Fed is hiking rates, I can get 1.5% on new cash and it'll go up the next time the Fed's raises rates. FDIC insured, no holding period, daily liquidity. Granted, it'll go down if the fed cuts rates, but that isn't going to happen anytime soon.
It was <.5% before the Fed starting raising rates, so it didn't really matter where my cash was. Now I'll take what I can get.
Some financial firms offer money market funds with current 7 day yields around 1.6%+. daily liquidity, but no FDIC. Not banks, the wire houses.
The county where I live is very kind to old people-- no school tax on your property tax bill which removes half to two-thirds of the normal total.
My state also forgives a big chunk of state income tax due via a Retirement Income Exclusion for oldsters. Up to around $100k of interest, dividends, social security, IRA and pension distributions, etc. Been 10+ years since I owed any state income tax.
Only financial clouds on the horizon? The five good old boy staunch conservatives formerly comprising the county commission are now gone due to changes in county demographics. Replaced by all women-- three of whom are howling liberals with agendas. Only good part of that? One of them is a real babe!
This is no country for old men.
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