Credit Cards

[lisaoz]

I have 26 credit cards, all open and paid off over the years, but are still on my fico report. Should I close all of the accounts that i will never use again? Will this help my credit? Please any comments will help. I have no clue what to do!  Many thanks!

[CreditCard101]

omy god, 26 credit cards...

[wmarat]

Closing of CC won't improve or worsen your score.

If you have no balances and your revolving utilization is zero, your score won't change d/t account closing. If you are not closing your oldest account(s), your AAoA should not suffer much therefore you should not see many FICO points lost, when closed accounts come off your report (in 10 years).

There is very hard to manage 30 cards. If you have more than 1 card from the same lender, try to combine them.

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lisaoz wrote:
I have 26 credit cards, all open and paid off over the years, but are still on my fico report. Should I close all of the accounts that i will never use again? Will this help my credit? Please any comments will help. I have no clue what to do!  Many thanks!

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[cartercorp]

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lisaoz wrote:
I have 26 credit cards, all open and paid off over the years, but are still on my fico report. Should I close all of the accounts that i will never use again? Will this help my credit? Please any comments will help. I have no clue what to do!  Many thanks!

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26 cc is a ton of work to keep open and active.If you have practical use for them keep them open.

[llecs]

OP, be sure to read this:

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/message?board.id=creditcard&thread.id=117125&jump=true

[lisaoz]

most of them are cc's that i have opened to get a deal when i purchase something from a store. should i close all of the cc's that i will never use again? none of them have any balances... thanks!!!

[cartercorp]

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lisaoz wrote:
most of them are cc's that i have opened to get a deal when i purchase something from a store. should i close all of the cc's that i will never use again? none of them have any balances... thanks!!!

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If you can manager all 26 of them, Meaning keep them alive why would you want to close them.Unless you truly know you will never use them.

[smallfry]

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lisaoz wrote:
most of them are cc's that i have opened to get a deal when i purchase something from a store. should i close all of the cc's that i will never use again? none of them have any balances... thanks!!!

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I closed those types once they were paid off. Furniture TV's that kind of thing. So long as you don't kill your AAofA you can go ahead and close them.

[lisaoz]

perfect! thanks! I am applying for student loans for grad school soon and am trying to get everything sorted out!!!

[haulingthescoreup]

It won't help your scores to close them.

It won't hurt your scores, at least initially. When they fall off, your average age of accounts (AAoA) might suffer. Close the "younger" (opened more recently) cards first. Just don't close your oldest (or oldest three) cards. Let them carry your length of history.

If it helps your sanity, it's certainly worth it.

Good luck with your grad school apps!