Nice Limits, what next

[toppers555]

+ 1 on looking into CSP.

[FinStar]

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@gen-specific wrote:

Hello all

I was reading these forums a few months ago and realized that I should have much higher credit limits than I did. I am no stranger to credit scores and nursing them, having worked with a federal regulator for some time, but I didn't know what kind of limits other people were getting. I just paid attention to how many hard pulls I got in a quarter and strategically kept my credit utilization down below 15% at certain times of a reporting cycle. (15% is a mental threshold, 30% being a real alarm for me)

Anyway, I had about $25k in total limits last summer, from a BoA card with $10k limit and a Citi card with $8300 limit, and some other ones which I have since cancelled. I was pretty content with those limits until I realized my income was a lot higher than people I was reading about here, and they had higher credit limits than me.

I've only been in doing anything credit post-crash. So liquidity crisis + short credit file + young age, I had just accepted low-ish limits.  Anyway, I set a new goal early fall 2012  that I could use my existing cards and get a total credit limit of $80k

I have around $72k in limits and now I would like to ask the forum what my next move would be.

I mainly did the 3x rule on all my existing cards, and cancelled the lower ones with 3-digit credit limits and store-only cards. I didn't do any "backdoor double trouble" by applying for new cards from the same issuer. But I know about most of the tricks, I demand to talk to underwriters personally, mixed results.

Now:

5 retail credit cards

2 business cards with personal guarantee (I don't count those, but they are on my file)

Citi Thank You - 25k

BoA - 17k

Barclays - 5k  (<-- this is the one for Apple products, why do people get so excited about this card, they have not been very generous at all)

Wells Fargo - 15k

Macy's AMEX - 800 store line + 3000 AMEX line

All of these have been increased to where they are within the last 3 months. Macys was applied for less than 6 months ago, but I just realized it is an AMEX so I can maybe do the 3x thing

Here are my credentials

Income: 120k

Age: [lower] Mid 20s

FICO average: 740, it is a tight spread though, none below 722. Nothing bad on the report except my oldest card is maybe 4 years old? I had an older one but mistakenly cancelled that 3 years ago, it shows up as closed on my report, I feel the consequences are negligible. 

My bills are paltry. Just rent, no electricity, no car note etc. I just pay for my cell phone and internet, a couple of subscriptions. I'm generally content with my level of consumption, which is not that high, but as you can see, I can float new clothes, new electronics, or a vacation (for myself) on my cards without any real consequence. But I'm never maxing out my cards, which has led some underwriters to not extending me more credit.

A 4056T will not reflect my salary and income sources since I haven't had the same salary for several years.

What would your next move be? I have no need for other KINDS of credit lines, like a car or mortgage. An actual credit line would be nice though, wells fargo offered me one once but that was a beauracratic disaster.

Apply for another Citi card? Which one

Any particular cards known to grant really high limits right out the door?

What about TD Ameritrade, I have a brokerage account with them

I don't have any decent cash rewards, or any decent rewards cards. But I'm not really into that game, and I don't buy gas (no car needed), just groceries

Although I may be reaching a threshhold of available credit to my income, I don't feel like I have really tapped the wells here. I am really surprised when I just multiply a pretty high limit by 3 online, and the system just grants me that extra credit.

I won't be going on a big application spree, just 2 or 3 strategic hard pulls this quarter, just in case there is a need for a real hard pull. (new employment, rental car, new cell service or something). Okay let me know

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From reading your post, it appears you are attempting to do a peer comparison from what others have posted here.  For some posters, bragging rights are part of the equation to see how much maximum credit can be obtained.  Some is legitimate, some of it is a game - sort of a "keep up with the Jones'" factor if you would. 

In light of the credit picture you shared, why would you feel the need to obtain more credit if in general you have sufficient open lines?  Additionally, you mentioned that you are content with your current level of consumption so unless your habits have literally changed overnight (i.e. travel more often and need to reap certain rewards, etc.) then your present income and not having a mortgage or car note can leverage your current financial goals... unless, obtaing new credit is driven purely out of boredom and not a strategic financial position.

[gen-specific]

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@FinStar wrote:

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From reading your post, it appears you are attempting to do a peer comparison from what others have posted here.  For some posters, bragging rights are part of the equation to see how much maximum credit can be obtained.  Some is legitimate, some of it is a game - sort of a "keep up with the Jones'" factor if you would. 

In light of the credit picture you shared, why would you feel the need to obtain more credit if in general you have sufficient open lines?  Additionally, you mentioned that you are content with your current level of consumption so unless your habits have literally changed overnight (i.e. travel more often and need to reap certain rewards, etc.) then your present income and not having a mortgage or car note can leverage your current financial goals... unless, obtaing new credit is driven purely out of boredom and not a strategic financial position.

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I'm glad you brought this up, I am not one to go on App-ing sprees. In the past I had been strategically building credit , but eventually realized that I could have a lot more, more in line with what I have seen other people have (on the internet, post crash) proportional to their stated income.

Before I knew all the terms "gardening" , I generally did do a couple of hard INQs every quarter depending on what my scores were after I got my credit scores from a reporting service.

I want to optimize the cards I do have, as well as peg my available credit more in line with the risk profile that institutions will see, instead of below it.

When I mentioned I was content, I meant that in the sense that I would request a CLI but much more incrementally before I knew that 3x CLI was really the golden number. So I had planned to have more credit, just not to the extent that was actually available to my risk profile, but now that I know what is available I would like to have it, up to a point (80k or 100k)

[dddewdrop]

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@gen-specific wrote:

. I was pretty content with those limits until I realized my income was a lot higher than people I was reading about here, and they had higher credit limits than me.

       Wantiing higher limits just because other people have them and you want to compete with tem seems like not a good reason to pursue credit. If you don't need higher credit limits for some tangible reason other than "keeping up with the jones"  then there is no reason to raise them. It is good you have good credit and pay attention to these things. It seems to me you already have access to a lot of credit. If you are not needing what you have already then why get more? Just my 2 cents. 

[gen-specific]

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@dddewdrop wrote:

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 If you are not needing what you have already then why get more? Just my 2 cents. 

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because when you don't need it is the time to get credit. I do have a mental limit, a number. I am not "keeping up with Jones"

[dddewdrop]

•        It would be a real bummer to have say 100 thousand dollars worth of credit and "need" it and find yourself 100k in debt. More credit lines= more risk. I am trying to be helpful. You are an adult and can do whatever you like. I just gave you an honest assesment of my impression of what you wrote. If you don't like my opinion, thats fine. You certainly edon't have to listen to it. You certainly have a higher credit score than I do. I was making a lot of money for a long time and had an income in the mid 6 figures for about a decade. With an income like that and investments I thought nothing could go wrong  and I got into a lot of trouble with over extending myself. I try to help people so they don't have to go through what I went through. I'm trying to help you. Hopefully you can avoid having what happened to me from happening to you. Good luck. I wish  you the best.

[NJTurnpike]

Once you get to that "number", I would say its time take advantage of spending programs, cash back bonuses, etc as your spending habits dictate.

If you keep yourself organized, you can net yourself a extra $2000 or more a year in bonuses / cash back for the price of a few minutes a day staring at a spreadsheet.

Most of us are in the bucket of, build credit / up limits / take advantage of sign up bonuses / take advantage of some cash back bonuses.

All this in preparation for a car loan and or a mortgage.

[gen-specific]

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@NJTurnpike wrote:

All this in preparation for a car loan and or a mortgage.

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I didn't realize that, I figured my extra high limits would be useful for paying legal fees and appeals court, if that ever happened. Just being generally credit worthy for retail credit.

[Sevenfeet]

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@dddewdrop wrote:

•        It would be a real bummer to have say 100 thousand dollars worth of credit and "need" it and find yourself 100k in debt. More credit lines= more risk. I am trying to be helpful. You are an adult and can do whatever you like. I just gave you an honest assesment of my impression of what you wrote. If you don't like my opinion, thats fine. You certainly edon't have to listen to it. You certainly have a higher credit score than I do. I was making a lot of money for a long time and had an income in the mid 6 figures for about a decade. With an income like that and investments I thought nothing could go wrong  and I got into a lot of trouble with over extending myself. I try to help people so they don't have to go through what I went through. I'm trying to help you. Hopefully you can avoid having what happened to me from happening to you. Good luck. I wish  you the best.

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I'm going to take the opposite point of view here.  For years I had similar income and a similar total line of credit.  But as you get older, life tends to get more expensive.  You may get married, have kids, get a mortgage, etc.  It's far better to have a broad credit profile with a large CL since it give you options and flexibility.  First off, if you need to buy something expensive, having a large total CL keeps your overall utilization down, keeping your credit scores in check.  Let's say you get married and need to pay for a wedding.  My wedding cost $30K+ 12 years ago.  Back then I was fortunate that my dot com stock options was able to pay for it.  But you may need to finance some of all on credit for a period of time.

Then there are completely unforeseen things.  When I had a son, he was born with a medical condition that requires expensive drugs and therapy, and even with my great insurance through my company, there is a cost burden.  In my case, I'm making up for lost time in the last ten years by pushing for larger limits since Ii discovered the hard way that it was very easy to max out a $26K limit.  Now it's at $123K and I have a lot more options going forward.

Bottom line is that you never know what life if going to throw you but it's best to be ready for it.  And ready in this context means a strong credit profile including a large CL to draw from, just in case.

[webhopper]

Having high credit lines is convenient... I like knowing that I could drop 15k on a purchase if needed, and I wouldn't have  to jump through hoops to make it happen.

Merchants are distrustful of checks and even cashiers checks when the amounts are that high... Before high limits, I would have to set up a wire transfer.