@FinanceATL wrote:Two questions for the forum from a long-time lurker/first time poster: A) What is the best way to pay for a pending engagement ring? B) Why is my credit score so low? Here is my relevant information:
Note that my fiance-to-be and I have completely merged finances (share everything listed below, but house/car are only in my name). We have lived together for 7 years and we are both 27 years old.
Purchase price of engagement ring: $17k. (Please don't say "spend less" and don't go into debt. It's what we both desire. And I believe our earnings and overall financial picture allow for this, but please let me know if you respectfully disagree).
My Credit Score: 655-690.
Annual Household Income: $210k salary ($145k me which is what I list when applying for credit, $65k her, $25k-$60k total bonus).
CC: 3 total (AMEX $1k CL, VISA $20k CL, CITI $4k CL) with aggregate $25k CL; paid in full almost every month (currently all paid in full); avg age of acct. 2.5 years
Mortgage: ~$330k (with $160k down)
Car Loan: ~25k (with $7k down)
No other debt.
No missed or late payments ever. "Delinquent Account" for $200 was paid after going to collections from our college housing in 2008 when landlord claimed stove was broken (it wasn't so I ignored - probably a bad move). Only derogatory mark ever on my credit (could this really bring me down that much?). Occassionally I will pay just the minimum for one month on the VISA, which allows balance to get up to $14-$18k, and then I pay it off in full the next month. I now realize this hurts UTIL and I will stop doing this.
I can, but strongly prefer against paying in cash for the ring as available cash (outside of stocks/retirement savings - which are 100% maxed for both of us) is only $25k (furnishing a first-time home is expensive!).
All thoughts are welcome on how I can improve my credit and overall financial portfolio. Please let me know if you need any more relevant information, and thank you in advance for your time and comments!
To answer #1: Do you have any cashback/reward credit cards? If yes, what are they? I would go with the best one. Have you tried for an Amex credit limit increase? How long have you had it? Have you applied for a soft pull credit limit increase with all of your cards?
The "best" way to pay for it is completely subjective. For me, I'd want to get the most bang for my buck, so I would place it on the card that I use the most that would net me the most money/perk back. If you can spare the HP, then the Arrival of Fidelity Amex would net you 2% cash back on each purchase and would be a good addition to your profile.
on #2: Have you pulled your credit reports to ensure that this is the only negative reporting? I would do that. Also, I would do everything in my power to get this negative off your report, because it's the only thing holding you back from having really high scores, and being able to app for any card you want. 
OP, is this the card you're talking about?
https://www.usbank.com/credit-cards/flexperks-travel.html
It would net you 1% cash back for this purchase. I would recommend that you apply with another company to yield a larger amount, plus it wouldn't be a bad idea to add a better card to your profile.
The Fidelity Amex isn't issued by American Express, it's a FIA company -- aka Bank of America.
If US Bank believes in you, you better bet that a ton of other banks do, as well.
I'm no pro about getting negatives off your credit report, but I'd try to contact the company that put the negative on your report and ask them if they can delete it off your report. You've already paid it.
With that said, I don't think that this baddy will or should prevent you from getting a new card. (It would be easy to explain this if you need to call them for approval.)
https://www.fidelity.com/cash-management/american-express-cards This is the card that I was speaking of. It's a flat 2% cashback card. You don't have to have an investment account with them only the cash management account, which is free to open and no HP to obtain. (The card, of course, is a HP.) With them reviewing your profile, they can see that you put a lot of money through your Visa card and have the income to easily pay it.
If you were to get it removed -- credit has no memory with regards to these things. Once it's gone, the score is immediately impacted.
https://www.usbank.com/credit-cards/flexperks-travel.html
It would net you 1% cash back for this purchase. I would recommend that you apply with another company to yield a larger amount, plus it wouldn't be a bad idea to add a better card to your profile.
The Fidelity Amex isn't issued by American Express, it's a FIA company -- aka Bank of America.
If US Bank believes in you, you better bet that a ton of other banks do, as well.
I'm no pro about getting negatives off your credit report, but I'd try to contact the company that put the negative on your report and ask them if they can delete it off your report. You've already paid it.
With that said, I don't think that this baddy will or should prevent you from getting a new card. (It would be easy to explain this if you need to call them for approval.)
https://www.fidelity.com/cash-management/american-express-cards This is the card that I was speaking of. It's a flat 2% cashback card. You don't have to have an investment account with them only the cash management account, which is free to open and no HP to obtain. (The card, of course, is a HP.) With them reviewing your profile, they can see that you put a lot of money through your Visa card and have the income to easily pay it.
If you were to get it removed -- credit has no memory with regards to these things. Once it's gone, the score is immediately impacted.
Do you fly often, OP? If so, you might want to consider a card that will net you rewards/miles, as well. The options are wide open, it's just up to you what is valuable to you. (Some cards have large sign up bonuses with large number of miles, cash back, etc. in which you could easily complete the initial spend to get the bonus.)
Seeing as your doing so much business through US Bank I would go for the Cash+ card through them. Your allowed more than one Cash+ card. You should have a very good chance of getting a good CL with your income.
Discover IT $17k / US Bank Ace (VSig) $13.5K / US Bank Cash+ (VSig) $13.5k