@SCF wrote:Paying off an installment loan has a limited impact on your score. Positive accounts remain for 10 years, so you won't lose the positive history, but just marking an account "paid" doesn't increase your score either. If you can pay off your loan, I would do it just to save on the interest and have the peace of mind - unless you have other high interest debt to pay off, or prefer to hang on to some or all of the money as an emergency fund.
+1 - Great advice!
I did not know that student loans only count for 10% of your CS. I learn something new everyday. I currently have 3 student loans, two with Sallie Mae and one with Great Lakes. The two student loans I have with Sallie Mae have about 6 120 days late on both of them. However those loans have been current for about two years. I wonder if I pay off one loan will it help my credit score? Also I would like to confirm that the lates will remain in my CR for 7 years, is that correct?
@SCF wrote:Paying off the loan will have a minimal impact on your score - the negative information will remain for 7 to 7.5 years, and unfortunately, 120-day lates do continue to hurt quite a bit even as they age. Once they age off though, the positive payment history should continue for about 10 years.
Thanks for the info SCF