Age / Number Of Charge Cards?

[Anonymous]

Well, I'm growing up (23) and I guess adults are supposed to know about these things.  So I bought all three from myFICO - 756 from TU, 768 from EQ, and 778 from EX - and so good enough I guess.  My wife got 760 from EQ, but the others couldn't be purchased.

One last question - for now:

The biggest problem is that I don't have a history - 5 years for a CAP1 card, 3 for Target, 3 for Gap.  My wife has 5 cards, one of which is a BofA Visa (5 years), and the rest are retail ones (<4 years).  I understand charge cards, like Macy's, Gap, Victoria's Secret, etc., can be good for credit history and their possible long times between purchases, but should we get rid of any that we probably won't need in 10 years?  Would it help our scores until we (or they) close them, assuming we forget to buy something once a year?

Thanks for your input. 

[RobertEG]

Welcome to the forums.  Many of your questions are basic credit scoring questions that are fully addressed in the sticky forum.  Under Understanding FICO Scoring, go into "Frequently Requested Threads," and start with "Credit Scoring 101."  That will answer most of your questions.

I would start there, and read, read read.

Good luck!  You are to be commended for your awareness of credit reporting and scoring!