My thoughts in blue below, and glad you are here.
@Anonymous wrote:
came across about how AAoA is computed and just found out that it's BOTH closed and open accounts! *i've been following what creditkarma showed me (open only so only 9mos - the CC sigs below). i know newb mistake. so it made me pull my free experian report (for the very first time; like i said newb) and now im faced with 2 old closed accounts falling off in 2 and 6 yrs. see below.
SEARS/CBNA
Status: Paid, Closed/Never late.
Date Opened: 05/2002
Last Reported: 10/2008
Status Details: This account is scheduled to continue on record until Oct 2018
SYNCHRONY BANK/JCPENNEY
Status: Paid, Closed/Never late.
Date Opened: 03/2002
Last Reported: 03/2012
Status Details: This account is scheduled to continue on record until Mar 2022.
^ tbh i've already forgotten about these accounts (never used sears; and only charged/paid $187 on jcpenney. lolz). the 3rd opened after those two above, i just opened Nov. 2014 (Chase freedom) from whence i thought i 'started' my credit journey!
so here is what i think is my real credit age *from credit,com (all CC, no baddies, no lates, <3% uti)
credit age: 13 yrs | oldest account: 167 mos | youngest account: 2 mos. | average credit age: 40 mos
I encourage you to find out for sure what your AAoA is. This spreadsheet looks pretty good to me. (Thanks to Elim for finding it!)
http://www.mediafire.com/download/b5la46o2l4l56r1/Accounts+Summary.xlsx
Put in your accounts and it will tell you what your AAoA is, what your utilization is, etc.
so now here are some of my thoughts. pls correct/advise me if im wrong.
- wow! a blessing in disguise that i had those accounts from before. i didn't even know that i had aged credit TL already helping me out on my apps. and here i thought i was the man for being extremely lucky getting approved 8 out 8 cards (closed PRG) with decent SL within 14mos. lolz!
- the Sears one is about to fall off in the next 2 yrs. should i really worry about it? i know credit age is only 15% of fico score but should i? :?
- if i ever wanna do an auto loan, would it be best if i do it before Oct 2018 (Sears falls off)? of course, no apps, low uti, and all other needed things to maximize score.
Create a tab in tht speadsheet that shows all your true accounts. Save it. Then delete the Sears account and see what happens.
- is it still OK to app for 2-5 more cards? *me likes sign up bonuses.
It's ok in the sense that it's not morally wrong. My feeling is that signup bonuses will always be around. Getting the best deal on a car is a one time shot. You have plenty of cards now, far more cards than are needed to drive the highest score. If I were you I would stop applying for credit as soon as you can see you will have a big credit need, at least a year before and two years is better. And spend that time letting everything age, letting inquiries go away, etc.
- what other things should i think or not think about? or is it much ado about nothing?
You have no installment loans, correct? Neither closed nor open? If that is the case, you would benefit from adding a $500 Share Secure loan from a lender like Alliant. I will be putting up a post in about 2-3 weeks explaining the pros and cons and step by step guidance on how to do that.
- and yes, i should learn more about fico scoring! =p
Yup, continue to educate yourself, it is fun and immensely helpful.
sorry, i really am newb. :/ ... but im trying to learn along the way ...of course with everyone's help here! =)
