AAOA will never grow!

Anonymous · ‎06-28-2017

I should have got all my cards at one time instead of trying to space out my hp,s so I would only have two in a six month time. Doing it that way has kept my AAOA real young.

Just got the last card on my wish list so finally maybe I can grow up now. As of right now I'm at about 9 months Been building for two years when Oct rolls around. Never had my own credit. Everything was always in dh's name.

Would having him add me to one of his accounts help me add more time on to my age? I thought I read somewhere that au does not really count towards age?

And I'm starting my build at a older age so I feel like I wasted all these years having everything in his name only.

mitchblue · ‎06-28-2017

@Anonymous wrote:
I should have got all my cards at one time instead of trying to space out my hp,s so I would only have two in a six month time. Doing it that way has kept my AAOA real young.
Just got the last card on my wish list so finally maybe I can grow up now. As of right now I'm at about 9 months Been building for two years when Oct rolls around. Never had my own credit. Everything was always in dh's name.
Would having him add me to one of his accounts help me add more time on to my age? I thought I read somewhere that au does not really count towards age?
And I'm starting my build at a older age so I feel like I wasted all these years having everything in his name only.

Many people are in the same boat.. I wish I started earlier, I wish I knew the best approach when I was younger.. I always had someone else's name on stuff because their credit was better. As long as you get there. Looks like you're starting on the right path.. Good luck.

FICO® 8 Scores 821 FICO® 9 Equifax 826 (Updated 02-7-23)

Anonymous · ‎06-28-2017

AAoA by definition will grow by 1 year every year (assuming no accounts fall off) or 1 month every month, assuming you don't add any new accounts. If your goal is to build AAoA, the only thing that can hold you back is adding new accounts. Don't app and your AAoA will grow faster than if you do app. It's really that simple. There's no work around to outsmart time though. You've just got to sit tight with respect to time.

RobertEG · ‎06-28-2017

Adding the account of another to your credit report may help your three-digit credit score, but it also results in the fact that the score is then no longer representative of only your own personal history.

If a prospective creditor does a manual review and notices the presence of an AU account, they have no way to back out the effect of that account on your score, and thus may choose not to give the resulting score its normal weight.

AUs can be great for rebuilding, where the type and amount of credit being evaluated does not normally involve a manual review of your credit report.

However as you move up the credit food chain, presence of an AU, even if it produces a postive score improvement, may be a disadvantage.

There is no free lunch....

Gmood1 · ‎06-29-2017

OP I've added several members of my family to older accounts. It does in fact give you a nice boost in scores. I have yet to see any of them have a negative impact from it.
Adding 10 yrs of positive history to someone's credit with no real history has one heck of an impact.
It certainly wouldn't hurt to do it. Make sure it's Capital One, Chase or BofA. All three back date.

Anonymous · ‎06-29-2017

Thanks everyone for the advice.

Anonymous · ‎06-29-2017

Being added as an AU to one of your husband's cards may help, or not. The key thing is whether the card you are added to is much much older than your oldest account. If your oldest account is two years, and he adds you to a card that is three years old, that's a waste of time. And indeed for the reasons that REG gives, I would not in that case do it.

If, on the other hand, his card is 20 years old (and he plans to keep the balance really low) then it probably is a smart move, for a at least a few years, as you broaden your portfolio. Being added in that case will dramatically change a factor called Age of Oldest Account.

So there is in fact no answer to whether you should or shouldn't do it -- not until you know more about the card you are being added to.

Anonymous · ‎06-30-2017

@Anonymous wrote:
Being added as an AU to one of your husband's cards may help, or not. The key thing is whether the card you are added to is much much older than your oldest account. If your oldest account is two years, and he adds you to a card that is three years old, that's a waste of time. And indeed for the reasons that REG gives, I would not in that case do it.

If, on the other hand, his card is 20 years old (and he plans to keep the balance really low) then it probably is a smart move, for a at least a few years, as you broaden your portfolio. Being added in that case will dramatically change a factor called Age of Oldest Account.

So there is in fact no answer to whether you should or shouldn't do it -- not until you know more about the card you are being added to.

Thanks for the info.

He has one that is about 9 1/2 years old with a very low balance he does not use much. I'm thinking that one. He has another that is 13 but uses it a lot and it reports at about 50 percent UTI most months. So I'm thinking of having him add me to the younger one. Or is that one too young and I should just stick with growing my own. I have no cards I'm interested in now so I won't be aping again in 6 months. So I'm ready for a long haul in the garden.

Anonymous · ‎06-30-2017

But I am thinking of doing this beginning of July because right now I only have cards in my name.

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Understanding-FICO-Scoring/Adding-an-installment-loan-the-Share-Secu...

But nothing else at all after that.

Anonymous · ‎06-30-2017

The key thing (as I mentioned) is comparing this 9.5 year old card to the age of your oldest account. You don't mention how old that account might be. I am guessing it is a bit under 2 years. If so, then the AU decision is good. When you next apply for a card of your own, your Age of Oldest Account will be 10 years old (the age of his card). That will be a big help, since without the AU account your Age of Oldest will be 2.3 years old.

There are two ways that the AU may end up being of no help:

(1) FICO may decide that you are not a legitimate AU. That's really unlikely, since you are married, but it can happen.

(2) The CC issuer may give you a Date Opened based on when you were added as an AU, rather than 9.5 years ago.

You may want to go to the CC forum and ask them if they know how that issuer handles #2.

Worse case scenario is that if you get no benefit (because of #1 or #2) you can just get removed as an AU.

Your idea about the SS loan technique is really smart.

PS. You write:

"I have no cards I'm interested in now so I won't be aping again in 6 months. So I'm ready for a long haul in the garden."

Only amongst people who are constantly applying for credit cards could six months be considered a long haul. :-) It's like an alcoholic announcing that he's going to never touch another drop -- well, not for the next three days anyway.

Congrats on being able to refrain for six months at any rate. :-)