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Political Cynic
Picture of nhtagmember
posted
if you cancel a credit card you've held for years

its a fairly low limit card - just a pain in the ass to deal with Bank of America



[B] Against ALL enemies, foreign and DOMESTIC


 
Posts: 53179 | Location: Tucson Arizona | Registered: January 16, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Striker in waiting
Picture of BurtonRW
posted Hide Post
How much would it affect the average age of all of your open lines of credit?

If you use a credit monitoring service (i.e., Credit Karma, etc.), many of them provide a "credit score simulator" which can provide that kind of information in theory, but I've never been convinced that those are that accurate.

-Rob




I predict that there will be many suggestions and statements about the law made here, and some of them will be spectacularly wrong. - jhe888

A=A
 
Posts: 16270 | Location: Maryland, AA Co. | Registered: March 16, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Funny Man
Picture of TXJIM
posted Hide Post
Don't be a slave to the number. Do what makes sense personally and the rest will take care of itself. Pay your bills on time, don't carry balances close to the limit and use credit responsibly. Monitoring slight fluctuations in your credit score is pointless.


______________________________
“I'd like to know why well-educated idiots keep apologizing for lazy and complaining people who think the world owes them a living.”
― John Wayne
 
Posts: 7093 | Location: Austin, TX | Registered: June 29, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Political Cynic
Picture of nhtagmember
posted Hide Post
its my second oldest card, has a $13k limit - the lowest of all my cards



[B] Against ALL enemies, foreign and DOMESTIC


 
Posts: 53179 | Location: Tucson Arizona | Registered: January 16, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Raised Hands Surround Us
Three Nails To Protect Us
Picture of Black92LX
posted Hide Post
Why cancel??
Just don't use it unless there is a fee.


————————————————
The world's not perfect, but it's not that bad.
If we got each other, and that's all we have.
I will be your brother, and I'll hold your hand.
You should know I'll be there for you!
 
Posts: 25421 | Registered: September 06, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Political Cynic
Picture of nhtagmember
posted Hide Post
not a slave to the number - I have an excellent score - just want to reduce my cards as I no longer need them

two years ago just before I bought my house in AZ I closed out an AMEX Gold card I'd had for years - and it raised an eyebrow with the lender...



[B] Against ALL enemies, foreign and DOMESTIC


 
Posts: 53179 | Location: Tucson Arizona | Registered: January 16, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Political Cynic
Picture of nhtagmember
posted Hide Post
pretty much getting rid of it to eliminate the fee and the volumes of junk mail every week - offers for this and that...



[B] Against ALL enemies, foreign and DOMESTIC


 
Posts: 53179 | Location: Tucson Arizona | Registered: January 16, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
Do you even need to buy anything big on credit in the near future? If not, it won't matter at all. Could even help your score a little depending on their algorithms.




“People have to really suffer before they can risk doing what they love.” –Chuck Palahnuik

Be harder to kill: https://preparefit.ck.page
 
Posts: 5043 | Location: Oregon | Registered: October 02, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Funny Man
Picture of TXJIM
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by nhtagmember:
not a slave to the number - I have an excellent score - just want to reduce my cards as I no longer need them

two years ago just before I bought my house in AZ I closed out an AMEX Gold card I'd had for years - and it raised an eyebrow with the lender...



That is the only time to worry about such things. If you are making a big purchase on credit soon then do nothing. If you have no mortgage plans in the next few months it's meaningless. Trim away, simplify, it won't effect you in the least going forward.


______________________________
“I'd like to know why well-educated idiots keep apologizing for lazy and complaining people who think the world owes them a living.”
― John Wayne
 
Posts: 7093 | Location: Austin, TX | Registered: June 29, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Political Cynic
Picture of nhtagmember
posted Hide Post
sweet - thanks for all the advice

going to kill it off today



[B] Against ALL enemies, foreign and DOMESTIC


 
Posts: 53179 | Location: Tucson Arizona | Registered: January 16, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
St. Vitus
Dance Instructor
Picture of blueye
posted Hide Post
I just use 2 cards now, AMEX and a Visa. Had others that I did not use and let the card companies cancel them for no activity. Do not know if it made a dent in my credit score but it did not prevent me from a lease for a car earlier this year and the finance guy said I had excellent credit.
 
Posts: 5302 | Location: basement | Registered: April 06, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of rocket72
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by nhtagmember:
pretty much getting rid of it to eliminate the fee and the volumes of junk mail every week - offers for this and that...


yeah that's probably not going to stop the offers and junk mail. If I were you I'd probably keep it. The hardest time to get credit is when you need it. Gold Amex I can see killing off with that annual fee though.
 
Posts: 1537 | Registered: July 22, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of smlsig
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I agree with the heard. Go ahead and cancel it and you'll be fine in the long run.

One of the many black box algorithms is the ratio of actual debt to your credit limit and the length of each of those lines of credit.

Several years ago I trimmed my cards down to just one for my personal use and one for my company. My credit scores hovers around 830 and has been there for years...


------------------
Eddie

Our Founding Fathers were men who understood that the right thing is not necessarily the written thing. -kkina
 
Posts: 6316 | Location: In transit | Registered: February 19, 2013Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of smlsig
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For those of you who don't know what your credit score is I highly recommend you sign up with Credit Karma.
https://www.creditkarma.com/

It's free and looking at it doesn't affect your score...


------------------
Eddie

Our Founding Fathers were men who understood that the right thing is not necessarily the written thing. -kkina
 
Posts: 6316 | Location: In transit | Registered: February 19, 2013Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Striker in waiting
Picture of BurtonRW
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by nhtagmember:
pretty much getting rid of it to eliminate the fee and the volumes of junk mail every week - offers for this and that...


What makes you think the junk mail will stop?

-Rob




I predict that there will be many suggestions and statements about the law made here, and some of them will be spectacularly wrong. - jhe888

A=A
 
Posts: 16270 | Location: Maryland, AA Co. | Registered: March 16, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of grumpy1
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I reduced my CC limit from 25K to 10K and my credit score went down a bit and stayed down a bit because my CC utilization percent went higher but I pay my CC off every month and have for decades LOL. I did that after my CC got hacked. I only had a couple hundred $ in bogus charges but it still motivated me to reduce limit.
 
Posts: 9747 | Location: Northern Illinois | Registered: March 20, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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quote:
Originally posted by smlsig:
One of the many black box algorithms is the ratio of actual debt to your credit limit and the length of each of those lines of credit.



This is an important part of the puzzle. If you cancel the card it will affect two parts of the calculation. It will affect the average age of your credit. This has a medium impact on the calculation of your credit score.

The second part is the percentage of credit used/credit available. This has a high impact on your score calculation. Since this is a low credit available card you might be able to offset this impact by asking your other cards to raise your credit limits by this amount before you cancel the card.
 
Posts: 1995 | Location: DFW Texas | Registered: March 13, 2012Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Yeah, that M14 video guy...
Picture of benny6
posted Hide Post
Yup, no need to keep it open unless you're purchasing a home in the next couple of months. I just bought a home this summer and avoided any adding or cancelling of credit.

Now that the purchase is over, it doesn't make a difference.

Tony.


Owner, TonyBen, LLC, Type-07 FFL
www.tonybenm14.com (Site under construction).
e-mail: tonyben@tonybenm14.com
 
Posts: 5397 | Location: Auburndale, FL | Registered: February 13, 2001Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Texas Proud
Picture of texassierra
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My score went down slightly when I paid off my house. Go figure!


NRA Life Patron
 
Posts: 1906 | Location: DFW | Registered: March 28, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Funny Man
Picture of TXJIM
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by straightshooter01:
quote:
Originally posted by smlsig:
One of the many black box algorithms is the ratio of actual debt to your credit limit and the length of each of those lines of credit.



This is an important part of the puzzle. If you cancel the card it will affect two parts of the calculation. It will affect the average age of your credit. This has a medium impact on the calculation of your credit score.

The second part is the percentage of credit used/credit available. This has a high impact on your score calculation. Since this is a low credit available card you might be able to offset this impact by asking your other cards to raise your credit limits by this amount before you cancel the card.


I will say it again, don't be a slave to some stupid number. Make smart financial decisions over the long run and pay your bills. When you want to buy something big the lenders will recognize that. Not to mention, anything over 740 with good debt to income ratio will give you the top tier rates in any scenario.


______________________________
“I'd like to know why well-educated idiots keep apologizing for lazy and complaining people who think the world owes them a living.”
― John Wayne
 
Posts: 7093 | Location: Austin, TX | Registered: June 29, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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