Do I have too many credit cards for my age?

[bs6054]

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@bichonmom wrote:

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@college22c wrote:

I currently have a Capital one credit card with a $300 limit. I just applied for a Wal-mart credit card and was approved for a $1000 limit. I'm only 22 years old is having two credits cards bad for a person my age? BTW, i"m always paying my Capital one card before the due date. MY TU Score is 651. I don't plany on applying for any more credict cards in 2013. I'm trying to build my credit.

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No, you don't have too many, nor too few. People on this forum tend to have a lot of CCs. That doesn't mean you should. Generally speaking, for building good credit, you only need one or two bankcards - e.g. Visa, mc. Having 2 trade lines reporting is enough to build good credit, and you have 2.

But you shouldn't feel pressured to get more credit than you can manage. I have a few cards that I'm not using because it is a challenge to keep on top of all of them and be sure that a due date doesn't slip thru the cracks. If you learn what to do now and manage your credit well, you'll avoid many of the mistakes and pitfalls people on this forum (including myself!) have made.

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+1.  This forum is by no means representative of the population in general.  If you visit Flyertalk instead, you would get the impression that everyone is churning cards on a very regular basis to get 500K-1M miles a year.  (Yes, a large percentage of those people do, but most of the population can't!)

Some real figures from the web:  (e.g. http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/credit-card-industry-facts-personal-debt-statistics-1276...

1/3rd of people have no credit card

The average card holder has 3.5 credit cards  (and over both holders and non-holders, the average for all consumers is 2.7)

The average age at which a U.S. consumer under the age of 35 first adopted a credit card is 20.8 years. The average age of credit card adoption for a consumer over the age of 65 is 40.6 years. 

[ObeyJohnny12]

I'm 19 and i have 8 cards. You can have as many as you like as long as you handle them responsibly. I always believed that the more cards you have the more easily into debt you can get. But like i mentioned it's all based on responsible use and paying on time.

[kevinjjc]

I must say, I'm really impressed with all these myFICO members in their late teens/early 20's on here starting early with a great arsenal of credit cards. I started when I was 18, but didn't build my credit as fast. Great job!!!

[Revelate]

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@Wolf3 wrote:

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@bs6054 wrote:

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No, the standard rule is one card for each year your age is over 17 (18 in CA, 16 in NV) so you are behind.

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Who made that rule the standard?

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Fairly certain it was tongue-in-cheek .

Forum in the throes of New Year's celebrations I suspect given the time stamps.

[creditnocash]

im 21.5 now (july 1st) 

i have 10 cards right now but plan on cutting them down. 

personally as long as you can handle all the cards its not bad until you have 100 cards all with 500 limits. 

i started a joint account with my mom back in november of 10(i was 19)   this is oldest too newest 

Best Buy 2.5k
Macy's 3.5k
Kohls 400
Citizen's 500
Chase 1000
American Eagle 700
Walmart 5000
Toyota Car Loan
Amex Zync
Citizens 2000
Citizens 5000

My plan is to eventually cut out the lower limit cards and keep the 

Amex (amex)

5k Citizens (mastercard)

Chase Freedom(visa) (ask for a cli at a year though) 

the only store card that i actually benefit from though is best buy. since im a premier silver member since i got the card (2k annual spend a year) (the cash back certs)

it will obviously help util to keep all cards open but ill be happy with about 10-15k in limits of major cards 

[kevinjjc]

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@creditnocash wrote:

im 21.5 now (july 1st) 

i have 10 cards right now but plan on cutting them down. 

personally as long as you can handle all the cards its not bad until you have 100 cards all with 500 limits. 

i started a joint account with my mom back in november of 10(i was 19)   this is oldest too newest 

Best Buy 2.5k
Macy's 3.5k
Kohls 400
Citizen's 500
Chase 1000
American Eagle 700
Walmart 5000
Toyota Car Loan
Amex Zync
Citizens 2000
Citizens 5000

My plan is to eventually cut out the lower limit cards and keep the 

Amex (amex)

5k Citizens (mastercard)

Chase Freedom(visa) (ask for a cli at a year though) 

the only store card that i actually benefit from though is best buy. since im a premier silver member since i got the card (2k annual spend a year) (the cash back certs)

it will obviously help util to keep all cards open but ill be happy with about 10-15k in limits of major cards 

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Just curious, why do you like the Citizens Bank CashBack Platinum MasterCard? It's essentially a 1% everything card (after 5% promo expires after 90 days), which you already get from your Chase Freedom Visa.

[maiden_girl]

I don't think you have too many credit cards or two little OP. Slowly build up to the cards you do want. Make a goal and aim for it.

[jsickz32]

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@kevinjjc wrote:

I must say, I'm really impressed with all these myFICO members in their late teens/early 20's on here starting early with a great arsenal of credit cards. I started when I was 18, but didn't build my credit as fast. Great job!!!

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i also started when i was 18. same morning i turned 18 i was waiting outside bofa to apply for a cc lol. they gave me my first credit card, student plat plus 1kcl, so i was lucky i didnt have to go the secure or crap1 way  

[bs6054]

It will be interesting to see if stats are changing generally as the credit crunch has eased and maybe people are becoming more aware of credit options.

The figures I quoted above:

The average card holder has 3.5 credit cards  (and over both holders and non-holders, the average for all consumers is 2.7)

The average age at which a U.S. consumer under the age of 35 first adopted a credit card is 20.8 years.

were published in 2010 (and collected earlier) so maybe things have changed.  Or maybe the fiscal cliff will make things much harder again....

And of course, as President Obama said to me last week when he offered me the Secretary of the Treasury position starting in June, this is the internet so we can't quite be certain that all age/credit card data presented here is totally accurate.

[creditnocash]

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@kevinjjc wrote:

Just curious, why do you like the Citizens Bank CashBack Platinum MasterCard? It's essentially a 1% everything card (after 5% promo expires after 90 days), which you already get from your Chase Freedom Visa.

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honestly i dont. i plan on closing 2/3 after they hit a year old. unless i keep the second one for emergencies. 

the first one i got in june when i had no major credit cards (cards that wern't store cards) 

the second 2 i got on soft pulls. 

since 2k at the time would be my highest non store card limit i took it. 

then last month the same thing with a 5k. 

i used it enough to get my 50 dollars and then sock drawer it. 

you cannot have more then 3 with them though.