Addicted to credit cards. How many is too many?

Anonymous · ‎05-16-2020

I am 62 years old. I have been getting a few credit cards every year, ususally 5 to 6 a year. Needless to say I currently have 42 credit cards. I do not pay any annual fees on any of them.

I rotate them all and pay them off mostly online before the statement cuts off so I never have more then $3,000 showing as owed on my credit reports.

I swore I was done getting new cards but applied for three more yesterday online and was approved for all three. I do have a high income and my FICO scores are only 740's to 750's due to so many inquries they never seem to go higher. I spend somewhere around $20,000 a month on them mostly for insurance premiums HOA dues and real estate taxes on some of my rental properties.

My credit reports show car loans, two open but paid ahead a few years on each.

I figured I would run out of banks to apply to but I seem to keep finding more.

Should I close some of these? I have closed in the past any card with a line under $5000 so the open ones are all over that amount.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Anonymous · ‎05-16-2020

@Anonymous wrote:
... Should I close some of these?
Any advice would be appreciated.

Mohr is truly merrier.

longtimelurker · ‎05-16-2020

Very much an individual thing, but signs that you are getting close to having too many:

1) You start getting declined for credit products, or get terms less favorable than you expect. This is because you have too many inqs or new accounts, or just too much credit for a new issuer to feel happy.

2) The task of managing the cards is becoming a pain, more than the joy of getting a new card!

dlister70 · ‎05-16-2020

As a general rule, I don't think that you can have too many cards as long as the following are true:

1. You pay in full every month to avoid interest.

2. You don't pay annual fees unless you get rewards that are more valueable to you than the fee.

3. Your credit score doesn't suffer too badly.

It seems like you are meeting those criteria at the moment. Even at 740-750, you'll qualify for the best loan rates at virtually any bank. As long as keeping track of 40+ cards is fun for you (I think it would be a hassle for me!), then keep on doing what you enjoy doing.

The drawbacks that I can think of could be:

1. Difficult to monitor fraud activity on 40+ cards.

2. If you need to apply for a loan, the loan officer may take issue with having that much available credit (or potential debt in their eyes).

3. Your wallet may rip at the seams.

Anonymous · ‎05-16-2020

Keep it up, you're only a few away from being able to use one for every State!

And here i thought 15-20 was more than enough to keep track of...

Anonymous · ‎05-16-2020

Personally, I say keep them and add and remove as best suits your needs. Factors I considered:

--No annual fees on any of them.

--Never have more then $3,000 showing as owed on my credit reports.

--Car loans, (2) open but paid ahead a few years on each.

--You don't seem to have any difficulty keeping track of accounts or overspending.

--You are getting approved for trade lines you are seeking.

You seem to be making your credit work for you and not you working for your credit. If that's the case, why change? The creditors don't seem to be having any issues with you. People obtain and use credit for different reasons, and those reasons differ. As long as you aren't doing anything immoral, unethical, or illegal, your personal affinity for having many credit cards is just as acceptable as anyone else's.

There are many "what if" scenarios, but that's true in life generally. Seems like all is good!

Kforce · ‎05-16-2020

@longtimelurker wrote:
Very much an individual thing, but signs that you are getting close to having too many:

1) You start getting declined for credit products, or get terms less favorable than you expect. This is because you have too many inqs or new accounts, or just too much credit for a new issuer to feel happy.
2) The task of managing the cards is becoming a pain, more than the joy of getting a new card!

+100

#2 hit me at 7 cards, last month.

Just got the 3% USAlliance, did not pursue the AOD 3% the following month

For some there is no such thing as "too many"

For me as a cashback only card person, I found diminishing rewards after 5-7 cards.

If you like getting, having that many, no harm.

I would not want to manage, rotate spend, split rewards, etc on 40+ cards.

I have 7 and am thinking about closing 2 of them.

For me 5 would be just right.

Shooting-For-800 · ‎05-16-2020

How about picking a number you want (20? 25? 30?)

Why not rank them?

Close all the lowest ranked over the max number of cards.

When you find a better card, close the lowest ranked one that is still open.

I closed 3 cards this week.

There is point where it because work to figure them all out.

Rebuild started in 2014 - $100k unsecured credit in 2017 - $500k unsecured credit in 2024.

DON'T WORK FOR CREDIT CARDS ... MAKE CREDIT CARDS WORK FOR YOU!

kdm31091 · ‎05-16-2020

As long as you are managing everything and not getting overwhelmed with tracking them all, there is no real limit on the number of cards you can have. It sounds like you are not using the many accounts to spend more than you earn, or anything, so in that regard, it sounds like you're fine.

But, just like anything else that can be addictive, it's good to be aware of what you're doing and why. Applying for cards whimsically just for fun is a bad idea. Racking up inquiries and seeking credit constantly makes you appear to be in financial distress and/or a serious card churner, neither of which lenders want to deal with. It opens you up for adverse action, limits cut, cards closed etc. Especially in the COVID world, I think excessive credit seeking is not a great idea.

If you are applying for cards out of boredom and they are not products that will serve you any good purpose, I suggest putting a freeze or lock on your reports and trying to focus your attention elsewhere. Credit reward maximization can be a hobby, but constant credit seeking is not a good hobby to have and could be detrimental to your financial life. Beyond that, there's only so many cards you really can use to effectively maximize rewards, and only so many different products out there (many banks have fairly similar cards). So it may not always make sense to have say, 40 cards.

longtimelurker · ‎05-16-2020

@Kforce wrote:
@longtimelurker wrote:
Very much an individual thing, but signs that you are getting close to having too many:

1) You start getting declined for credit products, or get terms less favorable than you expect. This is because you have too many inqs or new accounts, or just too much credit for a new issuer to feel happy.
2) The task of managing the cards is becoming a pain, more than the joy of getting a new card!
+100
#2 hit me at 7 cards, last month.
Just got the 3% USAlliance, did not pursue the AOD 3% the following month
For some there is no such thing as "too many"
For me as a cashback only card person, I found diminishing rewards after 5-7 cards.
If you like getting, having that many, no harm.
I would not want to manage, rotate spend, split rewards, etc on 40+ cards.
I have 7 and am thinking about closing 2 of them.
For me 5 would be just right.

And hate to say it, I'm almost OPs age, self-managing my IRA (I have retired). And everywhere you see warnings about "cognitive decline" which certainly can be scary as you are probably not aware of it. I imagine "later on" buying a lot of one speculative stock, forgetting I have done so and go through the same reasoning, "Oh I should buy some of that" etc.

Fortunately, credit cards are a little less risky, with autopay etc.