How long does it take to reach a score of 850?

[Anonymous]

Right now my score is 809 on Equifax. I did not know it was this high. I was pleasantly surprised! I am 31 years old. I got this high by applying for credit as soon as I turned 18. I got a couple of small loans I did not need and paid them back on time. I also got a couple of credit cards and kept a very small balance on them. That showed a long credit history. I have no negative items on my report at all. I am wondering if a score of 850 is even possible. How long would it take me to get there?

[Anonymous]

A score of 850 is possible. Age of tradelines and credit file as a whole is a factor.

[Anonymous]

IMHO you would also need a perfect balance of credit.  Kinda like the perfect storm tht sank the Andrea Gail. My mother's credit history is almsot 45 years old never a late or derog, several mortgages, auto loans, etc... still she does not have the perfect 850. She has been told on several occassions when applying for credit (the last time by a car dealer) that they had never seen scores as high as hers yet the perfect 850 is elusive.

I would like to hear from someone who has ever known anyone with a perfect 850.  I've never heard of it IRL myself.

Message Edited by Brammy on 04-02-2007 08:15 PM

[antredd67]

 Since you are in the 800 club, you just revealed to all of us who want to be in the same company what we need to do to get where you are.  Thanks for the info.  As far as being in the 850 club, some people have said that they don't know statistically speaking that anyone has a perfect 850 or 900 score.  But who knows you keep paying on time..and using your credit responsibly and you may get there,  only time will tell.

[Anonymous]

Lenders look at people with FICO scores of 720+ as "A Paper" Borrowers. So at 720, 721, 722, etc. all will get the SAME rate (all other things being equal). The benefit to having a higher than 720 score is for "cushion" room in case of mishaps in your credit use - or your life for that matter. But for most MAJOR life purchases like a home or car, anything above 720 is considered golden.

So my question to you is it that you just want to see how high you can go or are you going to use that terrific credit to your advantage? To me having a STELLAR credit score and not using it is like the parabable of the TALENTS - where one servant hides his master's talents while the others use them to increase their wealth.

Life is short, use all your benefits to your advantage!

[Anonymous]

While 850 is theoretically possible, I've yet to hear of a single person who has seen one (including those whose work involves seeing scores on a regular basis).

Furthermore, no real point. Once you reach say 760+ you're already getting excellent rates on everything. So once you're in 800+ territory, this gives you plenty of room so small fluctutations in your score still keep you in this prime area.

With regard to the post above, 720 while a good score, is generally not the golden number, something along 760 is more appropriate - check mortgage rates.

Message Edited by okrogius on 04-05-2007 05:49 AM

[Anonymous]

To get close to 850 (there is no guarantee of getting to 850), you need this:

0.  Absolutely no negs (no lates, collections, public records, NOTHING),

1.  Around 40 years of credit history,

2.  A healthy mix of credit (Mortgage, more than 2 different unsecured credit cards, e.g. MC, V, D, Am3X),

3.  Close to 800 perfect payment instances in your payment history.  If you have 10 trade lines, and you utilize them regularly, and they each report "OK" every month, and you have been doing this for 7 years, you will get close to 800 OK payment instances ( 10*12*7 = 840),

4.  High credit limits, low utilization.  Balances on no more than 2-3 cards - my guess,

What makes a better question is this: how to get the best possible score for the age of credit that I have.  E.g. if I am 30, and I acquired my first tradeline at 18, I should have a 12 year old credit history.  So with 12 years of credit history, what is the best score I can get?

Message Edited by ChumChurum on 08-07-2007 06:05 PM

Message Edited by ChumChurum on 08-07-2007 06:05 PM

Message Edited by ChumChurum on 08-07-2007 06:05 PM

Message Edited by ChumChurum on 08-07-2007 06:06 PM