Question about closing credit cards.

[metsfanTom]

This is a great website.  I'm happy to have discovered it.  Here is my question.  I have 6 credit cards in total.  3 of them have limits in the 3000s, and the other 3 all have a 500 limit.  I have a balance of about 1000 on one card, and all the others either have no balance or are paid in full each month.  There is an annual fee ranging from 20 to 30 dollars on the 3 lower end cards.  Would it be okay to cancel these cards since they won't waive the fee?  Would it hurt my score tremendously?  I've worked hard to increase my score and don't want it to be impacted negativity.  Thanks a million for your help.

[Scamp]

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metsfanTom wrote:

This is a great website.  I'm happy to have discovered it.  Here is my question.  I have 6 credit cards in total.  3 of them have limits in the 3000s, and the other 3 all have a 500 limit.  I have a balance of about 1000 on one card, and all the others either have no balance or are paid in full each month.  There is an annual fee ranging from 20 to 30 dollars on the 3 lower end cards.  Would it be okay to cancel these cards since they won't waive the fee?  Would it hurt my score tremendously?  I've worked hard to increase my score and don't want it to be impacted negativity.  Thanks a million for your help.

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Closing Credit Cards should give a lot of helpful information - take a look at that. 

If you haven't done so already, reading the first post or two of Credit Scoring 101 (linked in my signature line) should also be helpful.

[wmarat]

Closing credit cards demages your FICO in two ways.

1. Utilization. If you pay off your balance and then close your cards no demage to FICO.

2. AAoA. Closed account stays on your file up to 10 years and then falls off. When it falls off your FICO takes a hit.