topic Re: Many credit cards because of high income? in Credit Cards

Many credit cards because of high income?

villemiami — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 04:29:42 GMT

I only have 7 credit cards, as you can see on my signature, but I'm a little bit envious of the people who have a signature with double this number of credit cards. To have all these credit cards, do you need to have a high income?

At least, I also have the PayPal, Venmo, CashApp and the Future debit cards.

Re: Many credit cards because of high income?

Realist — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 11:18:56 GMT

No, you do not need a high income.

Your income is only a portion of this equation. Your financial footprint, and responsible lending practices, can breed a very deep credit portfolio. Your knowledge of how finance works, can amplify your financial standpoint. But, creating a deep portfolio doesn't just happen overnight. It takes years and decades.

Once you create the footprint that your borrowing standing is impeccible, all lending doors open to you. Anyone can do this.

Re: Many credit cards because of high income?

crystal626 — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 07:03:33 GMT

You definitely don't need high income to have a lot of cards. There are plenty of us who ended up with more than triple our income in credit limits. I've heard of legendary people who ended up eight or nine times above their low income even.

Re: Many credit cards because of high income?

GZG — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 08:17:47 GMT

@villemiami wrote:
I only have 7 credit cards, as you can see on my signature, but I'm a little bit envious of the people who have a signature with double this number of credit cards. To have all these credit cards, do you need to have a high income?
At least, I also have the PayPal, Venmo, CashApp and the Future debit cards.

hardly

every bank will generally give up to 50% of HHI, so with even very modest incomes, if you hit every bank for ~15-25k, you can see how that can snowball quite quickly

comparable credit is a big thing. you need to find a lender willing to give you a big limit or ask for credit line increases to grow your current limits.

your future limits will be heavily considered by your current limits

Re: Many credit cards because of high income?

ptatohed — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 10:21:05 GMT

I make mid $100,000 / yr and I have as many CCs as you see in my sig, plus lots more, not worth adding to my sig.

Re: Many credit cards because of high income?

Gmoney144 — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 10:47:06 GMT

@villemiami wrote:
I only have 7 credit cards, as you can see on my signature, but I'm a little bit envious of the people who have a signature with double this number of credit cards. To have all these credit cards, do you need to have a high income?
At least, I also have the PayPal, Venmo, CashApp and the Future debit cards.

Our income has increased 3X since Covid and ironically our credit cards accounts we have decreased by half. What you will learn about CCs is not how many but WHICH CCs are best for you. At the most I had 27 accounts. Some were great,some good and some were sh&t. Canceled the good and sh&t and kept the great ( still have.a few good USAA, Navy federal and Ducks Visa). All my existing accounts have large credit limits and provide excellent cash back or rewards. I continue to churn a few every year, adding some while canceling others. Coincidentally, as my income goes up I cancel more than I add. I'm more concerned with retirement accounts, investing in stocks and buying t-bills. I'm surprised more people don't take advantage of the rewards and make banks work for them instead of the other way around.

Re: Many credit cards because of high income?

MarkintheHV — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 12:12:35 GMT

With me, its not the quantity, but the quality. Keep the good ones and parley the credit lines into the good credit lines. As you can see in my siggy, I am a less is more kind of person. I only carry 2 credit cards as daily drivers. The others, I keep around for other various reasons or just dont want to close them. The AmEx BCP I use for gas and groceries, the the NFCU is for everything else. The cash back amounts work well for me.

Re: Many credit cards because of high income?

Tdatb64 — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 13:06:18 GMT

I got my first card just over four and a half years ago. I currently have 15 open cards (1 closed) totalling $53,400 in CL on a stated income of $22,000. My scores are roughly similar to yours.

Re: Many credit cards because of high income?

Aim_High — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 20:54:33 GMT

Echoing what others have said, but high income isn't a requirement for many credit cards, @villemiami. Among other factors, income does play a role in credit limits, so larger incomes have the potential for more higher-limit cards. But even lower income profiles can qualify for many cards with a good credit history and enough time to carefully grow it.

I agree that the quality of cards - for your specific situation and needs - is much more important than the quantity unless that is part of our "hobby" of credit cards that you wish to pursue. (We've had some members purposefully grow their numbers of cards to a high level, just for entertainment as much as anything else.)

Re: Many credit cards because of high income?

dfwxjer — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 21:23:51 GMT

@villemiami wrote:
I only have 7 credit cards, as you can see on my signature, but I'm a little bit envious of the people who have a signature with double this number of credit cards. To have all these credit cards, do you need to have a high income?
At least, I also have the PayPal, Venmo, CashApp and the Future debit cards.

Why are you envious of people with a lot of credit cards? If you think that is a measure of status then by all means just apply for more. With your scores you can easily have triple that amount although I certainly feel that would be a terrible decision.

You seem to have some great cards as it is. What are your credit card goals that you're not currently accomplishing?

Keep in mind this is a credit card forum full of people that are deeply invested in this topic. Far more than the average person. Some on here are chasing signup bonuses, some chase massive total credit lines, etc. Comparing yourself to people on here isn't a good move. Just focus on what you need, and sign up for cards in a strategic manner.

Re: Many credit cards because of high income?

Aim_High — Tue, 02 Dec 2025 18:43:03 GMT

@dfwxjer wrote:

Keep in mind this is a credit card forum full of people that are deeply invested in this topic. Far more than the average person. Some on here are chasing signup bonuses, some chase massive total credit lines, etc. Comparing yourself to people on here isn't a good move. Just focus on what you need, and sign up for cards in a strategic manner.

This is always a good reminder so thanks for that post, @dfwxjer.

We are an unusual and potentially misleading group for comparisons. The national average number of credit cards per person in 2025 is 3.7 (per Experian data.) As you mentioned, our members have many more cards than the average consumer and that is due to different reasons. Asking yourself WHY you want to add more cards is a good question. Our members run the spectrum financially from those just starting out to those rebuilding to those with aged and thick profiles. Likewise, household factors vary considerably from lower to very high incomes and wealth. With that, spending priorities, spending patterns, and card focus will change. Some of our members collect a high number of cards or high limits for the fun of it, while others may be running a very large volume of personal or business spending through and have legitimate need for those limits. Some of us have added cards to diversify lenders, to explore cards we are drawn to, to improve rewards benefits, or to add SUBs with the intention of closing or consolidating credit lines. At one point in my journey, I added balance transfer offer cards to manage some burdensome debt more effectively until I could pay it off. There's nothing wrong with adding more cards for the right reasons, just as there's nothing wrong with those who decide to downsize later and close accounts. Just make a decision about what you want or need, come up with a strategy that works towards those goals, and take what everyone else is doing with a grain of salt.

Re: Many credit cards because of high income?

FicoMike0 — Tue, 02 Dec 2025 19:43:42 GMT

I would think you would qualify for many cards. Since you have amex, id suggest bce. Where income becomes an issue is credit limit. I've noticed that amex considers total exposure vs income. They seem to be willing to go $35,000 on me total of cards with them.

some folks find card management a problem with too many. I find multiple cards with the same bank less burdensome, fewer logins.

Re: Many credit cards because of high income?

ways2go — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 09:14:02 GMT

No, I have 13 Cards. When I got all 13, my income was 50K and my credit limit was 3x of my income. It really depends on your credit history, your credit payment history, your credit mix, and your fico score. My CL range from 2000 to 24000. The 2000 is my Amazon Prime. They have never increased that limit since I got it, even though I have ran it to limit and paid it off a couple of times. It's like the chase ihg, started at 3500 and still sits there. Since they are that low, I only use them at Amazon and IHG. Chase did give me a United card with a limit of $14500, when I applied for it when I booked 3 flights to Japan back in 2019.

Then I have hit my limit with Amex, between two cards. I have a total of 23,400. They said it's enough. I think I hit my limit with the citi costco. They requested my income a couple of months ago and they increased it by 2000 to a limit of 22k. So yeah it depends on how you handle your credit. My highest fico score is 839 equifax. You can see, it is doable. Just be smart and never extend yourself. Don't use all that credit.

Re: Many credit cards because of high income?

TrapLine — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 12:25:06 GMT

@dfwxjer

Your post hits the nail on the head!

For years I had many cards and then got tired of remembering to use them. Finally, with a touch of reality I culled the herd and only kept the cards that fit my current spending needs. As times change and the credit card market place, I may add or delete cards depending on what best fits.

Today, I am a minimalist and frankly to lazy to keep up a herd of little or no use cards. The other posters pretty well captured the subject.

Re: Many credit cards because of high income?

villemiami — Fri, 05 Dec 2025 03:50:18 GMT

Right now, my goal is to chase hotel signup bonuses, because next year, my 2 daughters will play Regional soccer (I don't think they'll play National), so we'll travel all over Florida, and maybe once out of state. Right now, I have Marriott and Sonesta points, but if the team goes to another hotel brand, I can't, so I'd like to add the possibility to also go to Hilton and IHG. This way, my daughters will be able to stay in the same hotel as their teammates.

Re: Many credit cards because of high income?

Realist — Sat, 06 Dec 2025 17:22:49 GMT

Removed. Apologies.

Re: Many credit cards because of high income?

Realist — Sat, 06 Dec 2025 07:22:38 GMT

@villemiami wrote:
Right now, my goal is to chase hotel signup bonuses, because next year, my 2 daughters will play Regional soccer (I don't think they'll play National), so we'll travel all over Florida, and maybe once out of state. Right now, I have Marriott and Sonesta points, but if the team goes to another hotel brand, I can't, so I'd like to add the possibility to also go to Hilton and IHG. This way, my daughters will be able to stay in the same hotel as their teammates.

Hilton and IHG have excellent bonuses. The strength of the bonus will be determined throughout a year. Both are ok at this time, but are not their best. I have many lines I cycle, but IHG is typically my daily driver.

Re: Many credit cards because of high income?

bs1234 — Sat, 06 Dec 2025 12:37:12 GMT

@Gmoney144 wrote:
I'm more concerned with retirement accounts, investing in stocks and buying t-bills. I'm surprised more people don't take advantage of the rewards and make banks work for them instead of the other way around.

Yes, also for those here to which the whole thing is more of a game (and I am part of this!) it's always a good check to realize (in general) how small the rewards are. For cashback, getting 5% on everything (including mortgage or rent) would be really good, but..., still only 5% As you get older, getting retirement in shape becomes more important, and putting that 5% saved on a gas credit card into your IRA doesn't make a huge difference. So it might be worth choosing (or adding) a new "game" to the mix!

Re: Many credit cards because of high income?

Vash — Sat, 06 Dec 2025 20:02:40 GMT

I don't think credit card companies care about high income. As long as your credit scores and history look ok, they will approve it. I have 9 cards. Middle class. Started out with low end cards. Now I only aim for high cash back cards to apply.

Re: Many credit cards because of high income?

dlister70 — Sun, 07 Dec 2025 17:54:52 GMT

@villemiami wrote:
I only have 7 credit cards, as you can see on my signature, but I'm a little bit envious of the people who have a signature with double this number of credit cards. To have all these credit cards, do you need to have a high income?
At least, I also have the PayPal, Venmo, CashApp and the Future debit cards.

I have over 20 cards, and got them all with a salary between $55-$62k over the past several years. My current available credit is roughly 4x my current salary, and I just got approved for another $10,000 card a few days ago. I've used credit very irresponsibly in the past, and when I was accepted for my first $10k card, I thought they were nuts to give me that. But I've been responsible for the last 8 or 9 years, and my credit report reflects that. No late payments, no collections, no bad remarks on my report. I only carry balances on 0% cards, and pay the rest off every month. I've made a lot of cash back, but I'll never recoup all of the interest that they took when I was irresponsible and maxing out cards and paying minimums.

I only apply for cards that I think will help me either with cash back or 0% offers. I now have several that helped for awhile and then I got a better card and now I don't use that card anymore, but as long as they don't have an annual fee, I keep them around anyway.

If you have a card that you would like to add that will help you, then go for it. If they give you a small limit, use it wisely and let it grow. If your current cards serve you well, then no need to gather more cards just to have them.