@Anonymous wrote:I'm 22 and have no debt or credit lines other than a USAA $1000 secured MC with an 8 month history, no baddies (pay in full each month) and a credit utilization ratio of ~15%. I started with this card because I had no credit history when I graduated from college last year (yeah, I know--big mistake). FICO 726.
Anyway, I now have 40k in assets saved up from working over the last 8 months, and a stable job paying six figures, as well as no intention of ever carrying a balance. My goals here are to:
1) build credit in the most efficient way possible
2) earn rewards in the meantime
Some more info:
1) I have no other sources of credit and do not visualize having any soon (no student loans, auto loan, mortgage, etc.)
2) I have no car (no gas expense), no utilities expense (incl. in rent), no groceries expense (I eat at work), and no time to travel (have you guessed my city/industry yet..?)
3) I do intend to step up my purchases over the later part of this year, and want to do it in a way that helps my credit, not hurts it
Some of the things I'm thinking about:
1) I need to start building relationships with the big guys
2) I want to keep my credit utilization low, which means I need a much higher CL
3) I don't care about balance transfers, apr, overdraft/late penalties
4) I do care about rewards, but gas/groceries/travel/concierge are irrelevant
So... what should I do? Apply for 1 card? 3? Which ones do you recommend? What kinds of credit limits should I expect if I am accepted by the cards you recommend? Thanks for your time
I want to guess/play. You live at the Googleplex!?
@Anonymous wrote:I'm 22 and have no debt or credit lines other than a USAA $1000 secured MC with an 8 month history, no baddies (pay in full each month) and a credit utilization ratio of ~15%. I started with this card because I had no credit history when I graduated from college last year (yeah, I know--big mistake). FICO 726.
Anyway, I now have 40k in assets saved up from working over the last 8 months, and a stable job paying six figures, as well as no intention of ever carrying a balance. My goals here are to:
1) build credit in the most efficient way possible
2) earn rewards in the meantime
Some more info:
1) I have no other sources of credit and do not visualize having any soon (no student loans, auto loan, mortgage, etc.)
2) I have no car (no gas expense), no utilities expense (incl. in rent), no groceries expense (I eat at work), and no time to travel (have you guessed my city/industry yet..?)
3) I do intend to step up my purchases over the later part of this year, and want to do it in a way that helps my credit, not hurts it
Some of the things I'm thinking about:
1) I need to start building relationships with the big guys
2) I want to keep my credit utilization low, which means I need a much higher CL
3) I don't care about balance transfers, apr, overdraft/late penalties
4) I do care about rewards, but gas/groceries/travel/concierge are irrelevant
So... what should I do? Apply for 1 card? 3? Which ones do you recommend? What kinds of credit limits should I expect if I am accepted by the cards you recommend? Thanks for your time
Your profile is not very different from mine. I have a similar new job (same time frame ~ 9 months), similar savings, not a whole lot of expenses, and only had one $300 Capital One and low utilization. I had slightly higher FICO scores. I did, however, have old, now closed accounts. Discover gave me a $10k CL yesterday. Also I got approved for Amex Green and BCP. Can't say the exact same would happen for you with only 8 months of history but otherwise, our profiles are the same.
Except, of course, I could only wish I had this at 22 
So what kind of rewards are you looking for if you have no gas/groceries/travel expenses? A straight 1% back? What did you have in mind?
Starting Score: 648
Straight 1% back would be fine; anything better is opportunistic. I'm more concerned with my CL and establishing relationships. Some good advice so far, thanks all (of course I'd be happy to hear more sage advice )
Also, the city answer was Manhattan 
An AMEX Zync would lock in your Member Since year with AMEX so if you wanted an AMEX of any kind later, it would report 2012, that's a very efficient way to get a charge card now yet not reduce your AAoA later when you get a revolver with them (esp if you were to get your next AMEX in the month of January, it would actually report as older than one you got this year). And as others have said, once you're in with AMEX, your CLI's are only a soft pull after the initial HP for approval for the new card.
You're in with NFCU? I would think with your income they could possibly be the best combo with AMEX, esp if you were to do (or already have) direct deposit with them. If you got AMEX (which I would think you would), I would think Discover would be happy to give you a very decent initial CL next year. You may want to skip BoA simply because you have much better options in front of you (I'll duck now for the inevitable rebuttals to that I expect to be hurled my way shortly).
NFCU, AMEX (now) and Discover (later) will all treat you right if you're good to them and take care of your credit etc. USAA may eventually unsecure your card as well though I have no experience with them or others in that regard.
