topic Re: AAoA/Gardening Question in Credit Cards

AAoA/Gardening Question

md_rebuild — Fri, 09 Feb 2024 17:42:31 GMT

So I have been gardening for the past 4 months, waiting until mid-July when I'm 61 months from BK7 so I can app with Amex (and then I will return to gardening for the next few years). My AAoA is 5 yrs 8 months.

I have 3 Cap 1 cards (Savor, Quicksilver, and Venture). I recently moved my CL from the QS and the Venture to the Savor, leaving them each with $600. I opened the QS in 11/2019 and the Venture in 2/2020. I have been thinking about closing them out, since I don't use them, but before I do wanted to see if doing so would impact my AAoA or would be a red flag to Amex. I have a Discover (1 of 2) with a low limit that I'd like to do the same with, but am willing to just sock-drawer them for the time being if it makes more sense to leave them alone since cancelling all 3 would result in lowering my AAoA. Is that something that lenders really pay attention to, or is it moreso the DTI and other CL that one has?

Any feedback is appreciated.

Re: AAoA/Gardening Question

ThomasJNewton — Fri, 09 Feb 2024 21:20:07 GMT

If none of them have annual fees, than using them once in a while (or even putting a recurring charge with an autopay on them and not worrying about them might be a good option. While closing them leaves them on your account for a period, if they do not cost anything, holding on to them until your profile has aged makes more sense to me. :-)

Re: AAoA/Gardening Question

SouthJamaica — Fri, 09 Feb 2024 21:28:46 GMT

@md_rebuild wrote:
So I have been gardening for the past 4 months, waiting until mid-July when I'm 61 months from BK7 so I can app with Amex (and then I will return to gardening for the next few years). My AAoA is 5 yrs 8 months.

I have 3 Cap 1 cards (Savor, Quicksilver, and Venture). I recently moved my CL from the QS and the Venture to the Savor, leaving them each with $600. I opened the QS in 11/2019 and the Venture in 2/2020. I have been thinking about closing them out, since I don't use them, but before I do wanted to see if doing so would impact my AAoA or would be a red flag to Amex. I have a Discover (1 of 2) with a low limit that I'd like to do the same with, but am willing to just sock-drawer them for the time being if it makes more sense to leave them alone since cancelling all 3 would result in lowering my AAoA. Is that something that lenders really pay attention to, or is it moreso the DTI and other CL that one has?

Any feedback is appreciated.

1. My advice would be to sock drawer, rather than close.

2. There would be no immediate effect on your AAoA. Closed accounts continue to factor into your AAoA as long as they remain in the reports, which is typically a long, long time.

3. It is good to have multiple open accounts reporting zero balances.

Re: AAoA/Gardening Question

md_rebuild — Sat, 10 Feb 2024 16:28:32 GMT

Got it. Thanks for the feedback! I will sock-drawer and throw a charge on them every once in a while (and immediately pay off) just to keep them in the mix.