Calculating AAoA

olehammer · ‎11-28-2015

Hey all! Thinking about coming out of the garden for one more card. I want to make sure I'm not dropping my AAoA below 2 years if I do so. Looking to confirm (1) which types of account (ie. CC, loans, collections, etc) are included in the calculation and (2) how long closed accounts are included. If anyone out there knows of a good online calculator to show the impact of a new account that would be great. Otherwise i have a date with Excel. Thanks in advance!

Anonymous · ‎11-29-2015

I love your phrase "a date with Excel." I'd encourage you to make and keep that date. You can google AAoA spreadsheet and be told examples of exactly how to do it. Having a spreadsheet that lists all your accounts (with date opened) is in my opinion almost priceless. Moving ahead you will be able to know on any month exactly what your AAoA is -- and as you correctly observe, all values of AAoA between integers are the same. Thus, if you currently have a 2.7 and adding two new accounts will take you to 2.1, you can do that confident that you have not altered the scoring impact of your AAoA.

Closed accounts are counted just as much as open accounts and they continue to age. VantageScore may count closed accounts differently but with FICO they are the same.

If a debt is listed in your report solely as a collection, then it does not count toward AAoA. But if it is listed with the original creditor somewhere, then it does count on that record. Example: Suppose you had a credit card from Citibank. If it is listed as a charge off under Citi, then that record counts. If it is listed solely as a debt owned by GimmeUrMoney, Inc. then it does not. If it is listed twice, then the Citi record counts and the collection does not.

I believe that is how collections work for AAoA but welcome correction by anyone more knowledgeable.

NRB525 · ‎11-29-2015

Hi OP, you have five new cards in November 2015? Including a $4,500 Freedom card? I'd be inclined to say wait and just work on those cards.

In order to get to the AAoA you show in your siggy, what other cards do you have? Or are there closed accounts involved here?

I would not get too hung up on the AAoA calculation. Yeah, it may have something to do with your scores, but it's not going to be a significant factor if there are lates in your file. The lates are the major drag on your scores.

Consider putting more in your SDFCU Savings account to raise the limit on that secured card, make it a little more useful for utilization measures. Consider closing that Credit One account, particularly if you are running into frequent fees, cash cost.

How old is your oldest account, closed or not?

High Bal Jan 2009 $116k on $146k limits 80% Util.
Oct 2014 $46k on $127k 36% util EQ 722 TU 727 EX 727
April 2018 $18k on $344k 5% util EQ 806 TU 810 EX 812
Jan 2019 $7.6k on $360k EQ 832 TU 839 EX 831
March 2021 $33k on $312k EQ 796 TU 798 EX 801
May 2021 Paid all Installments and Mortgages, one new Mortgage EQ 761 TY 774 EX 777
April 2022 EQ=811 TU=807 EX=805 - TU VS 3.0 765

elim · ‎11-29-2015

i've been adding to an old one i found here. feel free to make a copy for yourself and replacing my data with yours.

it does AAoA, Utilization, counts down to satatement cut and due dates, counts down inquiry removal dates, etc.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zG3BGlfgYkfEXeVLIklvS1SpwKrax99s1g1af9Mao_8/edit?usp=sharing

file/"make a copy" and either just continue to use google sheets or save for excell

mods: it's under an alias name and email so sharing is not a prob.

olehammer · ‎11-29-2015

@CreditGuyinDixie -thanks for the great tips! I can't believe i haven't setup a spreadsheet yet as I use excel to geek out all the time.

olehammer · ‎11-29-2015

@NRB525 - thanks for the feedback! For more details on why I'm posing the question.... Looking to open a 5-year secured loan with Alliant and paying down to 10%. I have an auto loan that is going to be paid off in June, or earlier if I can pull the cash together (11% interest rate).

I also opened a secured loan with SDFCU but it was only for two years before I knew about Alliant.

Also, i'm thinking about opening a Capital One Platinum with the plan of converting it to a Quicksilver in 3-6 months. Plan is to convert my Quicksilver One to a Venture in the same way. So ultimately planning to do one or both as soon as I can without dropping my AAoA below 2 years. As I understand it that's an important threshold for scoring.

Understand the baddies are a larger impact but I'm working on PFDs for those. Planning to kill the Credit One card in April if they don't extend me 6 months on the AF. Currently i'm not paying one as I haven't had the card for a year as of yet. I don't use it since I got my other cards in Nov because of the lack of a grace period. I'm just going to keep the SDFCU card open to keep a relationship with SDFCU. Planning on picking up their 6.99% APR Visa sometime next year. They also have pretty sweet mortage options.

olehammer · ‎11-29-2015

@elim - great resource. I'll be sure to check it out!

Cmikul · ‎11-29-2015

@NRB525 wrote:
I would not get too hung up on the AAoA calculation. Yeah, it may have something to do with your scores, but it's not going to be a significant factor if there are lates in your file. The lates are the major drag on your scores.

My AAoA dropped below 1.5 and I took a 65pt hit for that reason alone...so not sure your statement is an absolute truth.

NRB525 · ‎11-29-2015

@Cmikul wrote:
@NRB525 wrote:
I would not get too hung up on the AAoA calculation. Yeah, it may have something to do with your scores, but it's not going to be a significant factor if there are lates in your file. The lates are the major drag on your scores.

My AAoA dropped below 1.5 and I took a 65pt hit for that reason alone...so not sure your statement is an absolute truth.

65 points for an AAoA change? Do tell more please.

What was the reason for your score being lifted by ~65 points above what it otherwise would be, in the first place? Was there one or more AU accounts with very good history, raising your score and also extending AAoA?

What specifically caused AAoA to drop, and how were you measuring 1.5 years?

Are there any negatives in your file? Disputed or temporarily removed and then they were refreshed by the collector, or a dispute letter was removed?

What were scores, before and after?

High Bal Jan 2009 $116k on $146k limits 80% Util.
Oct 2014 $46k on $127k 36% util EQ 722 TU 727 EX 727
April 2018 $18k on $344k 5% util EQ 806 TU 810 EX 812
Jan 2019 $7.6k on $360k EQ 832 TU 839 EX 831
March 2021 $33k on $312k EQ 796 TU 798 EX 801
May 2021 Paid all Installments and Mortgages, one new Mortgage EQ 761 TY 774 EX 777
April 2022 EQ=811 TU=807 EX=805 - TU VS 3.0 765

olehammer · ‎11-29-2015

@cmikul I agree with @NRB525. It's not possible for AAoA to change in a vacuum. You would have had to either close an older account or open a new one. Both of those activities would impact your score. For such a large point drop I'm guessing it was closing a solid AU account and both lowering your AAoA and overall utilization?