Congrats on your closures Pizza! 
@Anonymous wrote:
@pizza1 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@wacdenney wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:IMPO, again, this bears repeating, IMPO, I've always believd that store cards are nothing but a waste of time. I've never applied for one and never will. I'm perfectly happy witht the CCs that I have with banks such as Disc, BofA, NFCU and Amex. That's just MY OPINION.
Again, that's just MY OPINION. One more time: MY OPINION!
EDIT: But, to be fair, if anyone IS HAPPY with their store cards, good for them. As long as they're perfectly fine with it, that is all that matters.
There's a difference between grabbing every store card just because and grabbing them strategically. Some of them are useful like for example Home Depot and Lowes give 5% cash back AT THE REGISTER with no minimum redemption threshold or anything. Also, BJs MC is a good one IF you shop there. Then others can add diversity such as the Cabellas Visa with World's Foremost Bank or the PayPal MC with GECRB.
There's a difference between a strategic plan and accepting every pop-up. Absolutes are very rare.
Something I just learned this minute...from you and Pizza1 when he wrote something along the lines of Fico scores range in a mixture of credit with "Bank AND Retail."
There's no reason not to love this site
.
yes indeed...I love this forum! Theres a reason Ive been on it daily for over 2 yrs, LOL May not always be logged in or comment, but Im on here. Lots of good info here if youre willing to take the time and sit down and "search".
And yes, the new FICO scores you on a mix of revolving credit...revolving being bank cards and retail . Saw one guy who posted a long time ago his "snap shot", the only it gave him for a negative was " lack of retail revolving accts". Its something to consider if its important to you. I will never see that kind of response in my lifetime on my reports, LMAO!!!
I did not know this about needing retail for optimal Fico! Does anyone know if one is enough? You learn something new on this forum everyday.
I actually wanted to comment on something that may be a little specific to me, but it bares mentioning. In 2008 when my finances went out the window and EVERYONE closed on me the only card that didn't was my retail JCP. They reduces it to 136.00( probably because I never used it), but They didn't close it. When I saw that little thing sitting on my credit report it was like a life line. I asked them to send me the physical card and I used it to build positive credit history until I could pay my charged off amex and get a Optima rebuilder. It snowballed from there. I'm not saying this is the case for everyone, but for me, It was a start when I thought everything was finished. Did I mention it's a 10k CL now?
+1
I was in the same situation, at almost the exact same time. My two oldest cards are Lowe's and Belk... Lowe's was CLD down to $473 (due to a foreclosure; I always paid them on time), and Belk was opened at $200 where it stayed for eight years (yep, not a typo). Today, these cards are 12 and 10 years old, and my Lowe's is at $7450 and Belk is at $3400.
I don't use either card very often (especially the Lowe's, since I rent), but I plan on keeping both as long as they will have me.
@Anonymous wrote:Some people also use store cards to add thickness to a file in order to reduce the future AAoA hit of adding new majors.
+1
I've only got two store cards (Lowe's and Belk) and other than possibly Amazon I really don't have a use for additional store cards, except for the reason you mention.
People are quick to mention how closed accounts will stay on your account for (up to) ten years, but for those of us who don't churn there can be a notable AAoA 'hit' when that 10 year period comes around - I've experienced that personally. Several times now I've lost a few points when an old closed account stopped reporting, and I'm looking for a significant 'hit' once my old mortgage stops reporting next year (I'll get a 'double-whammy' due to no longer having any mortgage accounts reporting).
That being said, to minimize the AAoA impact going forward I have considered taking on a few more retail cards to 'pad' my AAoA in the future. I'm still 'gardening' my accounts opened in 2015, but in a year or so if I decide to move forward I'll probably only add a few, and they will have to be at places that I actually shop.
I realize there are several schools of thought on this - with strong voices advocating valid points on both sides - and I'm going to take my time weighing the pros and cons.
Back to the topic at hand... major congrats on meeting your goals, Pizza! It's admirable and encouraging to see someone meet their goals!
@UncleB wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:Some people also use store cards to add thickness to a file in order to reduce the future AAoA hit of adding new majors.
+1
I've only got two store cards (Lowe's and Belk) and other than possibly Amazon I really don't have a use for additional store cards, except for the reason you mention.
People are quick to mention how closed accounts will stay on your account for (up to) ten years, but for those of us who don't churn there can be a notable AAoA 'hit' when that 10 year period comes around - I've experienced that personally. Several times now I've lost a few points when an old closed account stopped reporting, and I'm looking for a significant 'hit' once my old mortgage stops reporting next year (I'll get a 'double-whammy' due to no longer having any mortgage accounts reporting).
That being said, to minimize the AAoA impact going forward I have considered taking on a few more retail cards to 'pad' my AAoA in the future. I'm still 'gardening' my accounts opened in 2015, but in a year or so if I decide to move forward I'll probably only add a few, and they will have to be at places that I actually shop.
I realize there are several schools of thought on this - with strong voices advocating valid points on both sides - and I'm going to take my time weighing the pros and cons.
Back to the topic at hand... major congrats on meeting your goals, Pizza! It's admirable and encouraging to see someone meet their goals!
Interesting point about the change in AAoA at the 10-year mark. I've noticed Experian tends to hold on to records for the full ten years, but that accounts may disappear earlier from Trans Union and Equifax.
Last night I found one small reason to keep my Boscovs card around - a mailing for 15% off. They had what I wnated, so the 15% was icing on the cake.
HSN is probably on my radar to close before Comenity does it for me. Their website looks impressive, but lately I'm not finding items I want or need on their site. It's becoming "work" every time I want something I have to check HSN's site to see what's offered before making the purchase elsewhere. It sometimes is a little bit of work to keep up with accounts that aren't really serving their purpose anymore. Congrats OP!
@wacdenney wrote:
@Thomas_Thumb wrote:
@pizza1 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@pizza1 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@wacdenney wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:IMPO, again, this bears repeating, IMPO, I've always believd that store cards are nothing but a waste of time. I've never applied for one and never will. I'm perfectly happy witht the CCs that I have with banks such as Disc, BofA, NFCU and Amex. That's just MY OPINION.
Again, that's just MY OPINION. One more time: MY OPINION!
EDIT: But, to be fair, if anyone IS HAPPY with their store cards, good for them. As long as they're perfectly fine with it, that is all that matters.
There's a difference between grabbing every store card just because and grabbing them strategically. Some of them are useful like for example Home Depot and Lowes give 5% cash back AT THE REGISTER with no minimum redemption threshold or anything. Also, BJs MC is a good one IF you shop there. Then others can add diversity such as the Cabellas Visa with World's Foremost Bank or the PayPal MC with GECRB.
There's a difference between a strategic plan and accepting every pop-up. Absolutes are very rare.
Something I just learned this minute...from you and Pizza1 when he wrote something along the lines of Fico scores range in a mixture of credit with "Bank AND Retail."
There's no reason not to love this site
yes indeed...I love this forum! Theres a reason Ive been on it daily for over 2 yrs, LOL May not always be logged in or comment, but Im on here. Lots of good info here if youre willing to take the time and sit down and "search".
And yes, the new FICO scores you on a mix of revolving credit...revolving being bank cards and retail . Saw one guy who posted a long time ago his "snap shot", the only it gave him for a negative was " lack of retail revolving accts". Its something to consider if its important to you. I will never see that kind of response in my lifetime on my reports, LMAO!!!
I did not know this about needing retail for optimal Fico! Does anyone know if one is enough? You learn something new on this forum everyday.
I actually wanted to comment on something that may be a little specific to me, but it bares mentioning. In 2008 when my finances went out the window and EVERYONE closed on me the only card that didn't was my retail JCP. They reduces it to 136.00( probably because I never used it), but They didn't close it. When I saw that little thing sitting on my credit report it was like a life line. I asked them to send me the physical card and I used it to build positive credit history until I could pay my charged off amex and get a Optima rebuilder. It snowballed from there. I'm not saying this is the case for everyone, but for me, It was a start when I thought everything was finished. Did I mention it's a 10k CL now?
This is exactly what Im talking about!! That little JCP card was the only thing that kept you afloat, and helped you rebuild. There are a few I wont let go for that reason alone too...despite if I "outgrow it or not".. There is such thing as loyality to lenders who would approve you when everyone else wouldnt!
My understanding is retail cards may be beneficial for the Fico NextGen scoring model according to some posters that have access to Fico NextGen.
However, Fico 08, Fico 04 and Fico 98 don't treat revolving retail cards any differently than other revolving credit cards for mix, or CC utilization - the cards are score neutral. True charge cards (not sure if any are left other than AMEX) can add to credit mix. In the past some store/retail cards were charge cards but the one I have left was converted to a revolver 5 years ago.
Both Home Depot and Lowes report as "charge" cards for me on Equifax. I'm not sure if they report that way on TU and EX or not, but they definately do on EQ.
I know, gets confusing. Actual charge cards like amex report as charge accounts. My only dormant store card says charge card.
@CreditUnionFan wrote:Interesting point about the change in AAoA at the 10-year mark. I've noticed Experian tends to hold on to records for the full ten years, but that accounts may disappear earlier from Trans Union and Equifax.
Last night I found one small reason to keep my Boscovs card around - a mailing for 15% off. They had what I wnated, so the 15% was icing on the cake.
HSN is probably on my radar to close before Comenity does it for me. Their website looks impressive, but lately I'm not finding items I want or need on their site. It's becoming "work" every time I want something I have to check HSN's site to see what's offered before making the purchase elsewhere. It sometimes is a little bit of work to keep up with accounts that aren't really serving their purpose anymore. Congrats OP!
+1
That's the reason back when I figured out store cards might be within my reach, I never got an Overstock card. Each time I found something on their website, I would go over to Amazon and find it for less. I'm rather sensitive to price... I'm not willing to pay more just so I can use a particular card.
There was a time back when this would have been overlooked - I once bought a computer monitor at Sears because that's where I had the credit, even though it cost hundreds more - but those days are long gone. 