@LS2982 wrote:
IMO if your file can afford the AAOA ding and INQs go for it. If you really should be gardening then it is what it is. Personally ive learned from my 2 years of rebuilding that gardening is a good thing and is needed. O dont want any AA from any creditors.
Good points, all around.
It's important to be realistic and aware of where one is on the spectrum of the credit rating scale. If there's no chance of being approved without some time passing, then gardening isn't only the best course of action, but the only one.
Coversely, if one's file is "thick" enough with positive history, the "free" perks are there to be for the taking. Unless a person has a huge loan awaiting imminent approval, the point of credit is to derive financial benefit, either through rewards or lower interest on loans. Most high credit scores will allow for both.
For the person building or rebuilding, it takes some TLs to start showing history and building the file. In this stage is where I think gardening is somehwat misunderstood. It's far better to be aggressive and try to build TLs quickly (even with rejections and mounting inquiries) than to sit on one $500 account and wait 5 years for this to age. The latter will work after 10 years of patience, while the former while more deleterious (credit score wise) in the short run will yield results much quicker--about 2 years for all Prime cards to be instantly approved. Boldness will always be rewarded. Once in a while during the rebuilding stage, app for that card you want. Get rejected, who cares? Call to recon and get berated or demeaned, who cares? This will yield much better results than waiting for that "perfect" report 7 or 10 years later before apping for that coveted rewards card. By then, will credit cards even exist or matter?
In my estimation, the credit world and financial institutions are trying to streamline the process to risk management en masse to maximize their return. We as consumers should understand their mechanisms and proport ourselves creditwise to derive maximum benefit from those rules, whether it be from extra benefit (cash), bonuses, rewards perks, prestige, lower interest and/or a combination thereof on what is most commensurate with our lifestyle.
What credit assuredly isn't is an end onto itself. It should be used by consumers to transfer wealth (through rewards and perks) to you from those who don't understand, qualify or utilize what is being offered to those with "good" credit.
PS - The old adage we hear growing up "knowledge is power," this is but a small example of it in practice. This can be applied in a much larger scale yielding much higher benefit, i.e., Warren Buffet, George Soros Et al. -- history of their respective funds.
