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I'm wondering how precisely the official AAoA calculation is made, as I'm trying to create a spreadsheet to keep track of mine. For instance, if I opened a card 15 days ago, does that card count as 0.5 months old in an AAoA calculation, or does it remain at 0 until a full month passes?
It is rounded down to the year, but cannot be less than 1. Anything from 0 months to 23 months counts as 1 year AAoA. 24 up until 35 months counts as 2 years AAoA. And so on.
ETA: this is for all cards combined, of course. For an individual card, you would count the months from the date opened and add it to the total. Only whole months count. Add all of the months from all of your accounts together and then divide by the number of accounts. Then round down to the nearest year, as mentioned above.
What about closed accounts? Do you only count the months that it was open? Or from when the account was opened until now including the months that it was closed? For example, I have a Citi credit card that was open from 2001 to 2009. Does that count as 8 years or 12?
Thanks!
elvigy wrote:What about closed accounts? Do you only count the months that it was open? Or from when the account was opened until now including the months that it was closed? For example, I have a Citi credit card that was open from 2001 to 2009. Does that count as 8 years or 12?
A card open in 2001 (earlier than the current month) would count as 12 years, regardless of the date it was closed. You should calculate each account in months though, then divide, then round down to the nearest year.
@elvigy wrote:
Good to know. Thanks!
Yup... I learned something too. That's the wonderful part of these forums. Thanks Dave!
Let me get this straight......If a new account was opened yesterday, it gets 12 months automatically into the calculation, because nothing can be less than 1?
@Kratos-TM wrote:Let me get this straight......If a new account was opened yesterday, it gets 12 months automatically into the calculation, because nothing can be less than 1?
It's the average that can't be below 1 year. That new account will count as zero for calculation of the average age.
@OhioCPA wrote:
@Kratos-TM wrote:Let me get this straight......If a new account was opened yesterday, it gets 12 months automatically into the calculation, because nothing can be less than 1?
It's the average that can't be below 1 year. That new account will count as zero for calculation of the average age.
Alright next question......let's say this new account is 11 months old. Does FICO still calculate it as zero in the AAoA equation or does the 11 months get factored?
If your answer is zero, then that means that we should see a bump in AAoA when the new accounts hit 1 year (because they were counted as zero the entire 11 months).