Retirement and FICO Scoring.

[Lucid08]

In a recent thread I explained a situation where my parents, who recently retired, paid off their last installment(a car loan) with a 401k withdrawal, and suffered a drop in their credit scores(FAKO's from the free credit phone call) when compared to scores from the same manner from two years ago('06).

They wanted to be debt free due to the obvious drop in income from when both were employed. They were operating on the assumption that most lenders look at retiree's differently due to the drop in income when a person retires- even with a great payment history and supporting scores. Paying off the car loan resulted in a drop in their scores when compared to the ones from two years ago, and even though they are considered FAKO's, this should be a decent indicator of credit worthiness.

With 2 active CC's(an Amex and a Visa), a paid off mortgage, a paid off auto loan, and no lates or collections ever, I would think that their credit scores wold be at least in the high to mid 700's, but as Hauling explained in the other thread; true FICO's might actually be higher than the CB generated ones contained in the free annual reports.

I guess my question is: Is there a correct way of eliminating debt or maintaining small amounts of revolving debt that will offset and maintain yourr score when a person wants to retire? They've proven themselves to the system already and I'm wondering how to help them now that they've retired and substantially reduced their income.

[Junejer]

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@ChrisGA43 wrote:
In a recent thread I explained a situation where my parents, who recently retired, paid off their last installment(a car loan) with a 401k withdrawal, and suffered a drop in their credit scores(FAKO's from the free credit phone call) when compared to scores from the same manner from two years ago('06).

They wanted to be debt free due to the obvious drop in income from when both were employed. They were operating on the assumption that most lenders look at retiree's differently due to the drop in income when a person retires- even with a great payment history and supporting scores. Paying off the car loan resulted in a drop in their scores when compared to the ones from two years ago, and even though they are considered FAKO's, this should be a decent indicator of credit worthiness.

With 2 active CC's(an Amex and a Visa), a paid off mortgage, a paid off auto loan, and no lates or collections ever, I would think that their credit scores wold be at least in the high to mid 700's, but as Hauling explained in the other thread; true FICO's might actually be higher than the CB generated ones contained in the free annual reports.

I guess my question is: Is there a correct way of eliminating debt or maintaining small amounts of revolving debt that will offset and maintain yourr score when a person wants to retire? They've proven themselves to the system already and I'm wondering how to help them now that they've retired and substantially reduced their income.

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Have them allow ONE CC to report a small balance each month (1-9% util).

[Anonymous]

Two revolving credit accounts with low util and good standing should be enough to keep their credit scores in the mid-700s or higher. And that's all they really need anyway.