Why So Many?

[Anonymous]

Love plastic.......better still ......love plastic with numbers attached to them.....😀

[finfree]

I have several older bank and department store cards (issued 30+ years ago) that I retain because they contribute to my AAoA, even though I currently use them only intermittently because they offer few rewards. I have multiple more recent cards each of which serves a distinct purpose: Discover It for cashback (planning $750-$900 this year) and zero interest for 14 months (a failsafe in case I need to pay over a couple of months), CSR as a daily driver (I eat out quite a bit, and travel often, so I make good use of the 3x points for those categories); Chase Ritz-Carlton because of SUB, $300 allowance for travel incidentals (I plant to use this up for baggage fees on Basic Economy flights), no additional cost for AU which is an easy way for me to give DH Priority Pass at no additional cost, and $100 off the combined fare of every domestic flight that DH and I take together (five planned for this year); Amex Platinum for broader lounge access, $200 travel incidental allowance (which I used this year to purchase Delta gift cards), instant Marriott/SPG gold elite status (which also translates to gold for Ritz Carlton); a Visa card from my credit union that offers 9.9% interest (I don’t run a balance but the relatively low interest rate makes this another failsafe if I ever was forced to). For a tiny bit extra work in monitoring these cards, I get a fair amount of value in excess of AFs etc. There is no magic ideal number of cards; each person’s situation is unique.

[UpperNwGuy]

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@finfreewrote:
I have several older bank and department store cards (issued 30+ years ago) that I retain because they contribute to my AAoA

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I closed my last five store cards about a year ago (including one that was 44 years old) and have seen no impact at all to my credit score.  I think keeping cards around solely for AAoA is only important in the first few years of credit building.

[finfree]

UpperNewGuy- retaining older cards allows you to smooth out AAoA when obtaining multiple new cards- if you close out old accounts but aren’t applying for several new cards at once then it shouldn’t really be an issue. As I understand it, to max out FICO you want AAoA over >9 years (but no real benefit to having much over 9 years except as it may impact depth of credit) so it’s a relatively simple calculation to know how many (and which) old cards you can close based on how many new cards obtained. I won't easily relinquish cards with 30+ year history. I recently (within past two months) obtained 3 new cards and a mortgage for a second home with just a tiny impact on my 3 FICO 8s; have to believe AAoA helped to insultate me from a more significant impact.

[Anonymous]

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@finfreewrote:
UpperNewGuy- retaining older cards allows you to smooth out AAoA when obtaining multiple new cards- if you close out old accounts but aren’t applying for several new cards at once then it shouldn’t really be an issue. As I understand it, to max out FICO you want AAoA over >9 years (but no real benefit to having much over 9 years except as it may impact depth of credit) so it’s a relatively simple calculation to know how many (and which) old cards you can close based on how many new cards obtained. I won't easily relinquish cards with 30+ year history. I recently (within past two months) obtained 3 new cards and a mortgage for a second home with just a tiny impact on my 3 FICO 8s; have to believe AAoA helped to insultate me from a more significant impact.

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Agreed - aside from BK (which I think is hurting a little less as time goes by), and the old lates on my student loan (which I think are also impacting less as they get older), the main drag on my scores are that except for my Cap 1 secured, all my cards are under 2 years old. As I noted earlier, once I get a better rewards MC and/or reinstate PayPal Credit, I think I'm pretty much done with new cards until/unless Amex starts coughing up prequalified offers, or until/unless I get a really good preapproval offer from someone worthwhile.

[Anonymous]

Throw in the fear of a CC going away. Soon the Comenity Fuel Rewards MC will be gone. That is $9K out of my collection I will lose.  My sister has a Synchrony Toy's R Us MC. It will no doubt go away and soon. Retail stores close, banks merge, a CC mistreats you or reverse. I have closed CC because of the lack of customer service. With 19, soon to be 18 CC, I feel secure that I have credit. It is mixed around: Chase, US Bank, Capital One, Barclay, Discover, Citi, Comenity V, AmEx and several store cards. I call it backup!

[LionLaw]

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@UpperNwGuywrote:

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@finfreewrote:
I have several older bank and department store cards (issued 30+ years ago) that I retain because they contribute to my AAoA

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I closed my last five store cards about a year ago (including one that was 44 years old) and have seen no impact at all to my credit score.  I think keeping cards around solely for AAoA is only important in the first few years of credit building.

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This is a very good point.  Many posters here are squeamish about closing old cards because they're afraid of the hit to AAoA when they don't have to be.  The impact on your FICO score from closing old accounts is minimal, especially considering the TLs stay on your report for 10 years.  So, don't feel like you need to hold onto cards just for the AAoA.

[imaximous]

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@LionLawwrote:

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@UpperNwGuywrote:

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@finfreewrote:
I have several older bank and department store cards (issued 30+ years ago) that I retain because they contribute to my AAoA

---

I closed my last five store cards about a year ago (including one that was 44 years old) and have seen no impact at all to my credit score.  I think keeping cards around solely for AAoA is only important in the first few years of credit building.

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This is a very good point.  Many posters here are squeamish about closing old cards because they're afraid of the hit to AAoA when they don't have to be.  The impact on your FICO score from closing old accounts is minimal, especially considering the TLs stay on your report for 10 years.  So, don't feel like you need to hold onto cards just for the AAoA.

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That is true, but some scoring systems do take into account open TLs. When doing a manual review for a cc or loan application, analysts/UWs tend to focus on your open trade lines, not the old ones that closed years ago. In truth, the impact lessens as you profile ages, but in some cases, you gotta keep them, particularly for people new to credit or rebuilding.

[imaximous]

In my case, and I'm sure like many others, it's a matter of progression. 

I started with basic cards and then moved on to the ones with better rewards. But it really never ends because even rewards programs get canceled, updated, nerfed, etc. New programs and cards come out that match your needs better and I try to go for them. Basically, I adapt to the new stuff that comes out. I stop using the other cards or rotating them when I receive a promotion whether it be for APR or extra points, and since I tend to focus on cashback (or cashback conversion) and no annual fees, it doesn't matter where I get it. For those who go after points or mileage, that may be a problem, but I can have 100 cashback cards collecting $5 each, or 1 getting me $500. I still end up with the same amount because of how I manage it all into one dedicated pool account for cashback.

New cards continue to come out with better rewards and others fall behind. For instance, there was no Barclays Uber card a year ago. No PayPal 2% or US Bank Altitude, etc. So if I like a new program and it works best for my needs, then I'll continue to move on. By the same token, I got rid of cards like the Citi Prestige when they canceled AA club access because it was important to me. My United card also got canceled after I stopped flying often on the airline to justify it, etc. I'm not married to any card, so if they fail to keep me interested, then it's you, not me.

It may seem like one has a TON of cards by simply looking at their profile, but it's not because they go for all at once. Many people have been at it for years. For me, this chase will probably never end and I look forward to the next big thing.

[Anonymous]

Very well said!!