Guidance needed: In college, what should I do next?

[Anonymous]

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@FinStar wrote:

Oh wait, are you the OP that has the Cayenne?  So, what kind of vehicle are you looking to get?  

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YES I am, and of course, another cayenne! My current one is a 2008 with 146,000 miles on it, and I'm putting about 20k/year. I plan to dump it at 200k miles for a lower milage one.

[Anonymous]

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@Shadowfactor wrote:
The above advice is definitely a great place to start.

Since you have 3 very recent denials. That’s a huge sign to stop applying. Let things cool off for a while and manage the cards you have.

As mentioned above. I would garden until you needed to add some more credit or picking up a new card would benefit you in the long run.
You have more then 5 cards which is the recommended amount of cards to maximize fico scoring. Now work towards the other aspect of that which is 5 cards over 2 years old.

I’m the last person to give advice for gardening (18/24) but it would seriously serve you well.

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Ah, that makes sense. Thank you for your reply. Off to the garden I go!

[FinStar]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@FinStar wrote:

Oh wait, are you the OP that has the Cayenne?  So, what kind of vehicle are you looking to get?  

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YES I am, and of course, another cayenne! My current one is a 2008 with 146,000 miles on it, and I'm putting about 20k/year. I plan to dump it at 200k miles for a lower milage one.

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Oh gotcha.  I didn't realize the one you had was from '08.  Cool!

[Anonymous]

As someone who works in the car industry. (BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Porsche Master Certified Tech.) I recommend moving on from your Porsche way before 200K. With your income it can get very expensive to repair that vehicle and your at the mileage where big thinks begin to go wrong. Also your resale value will be nonexistent at 200k. We just wholesaled a 2009 Turbo S with about 180k on it for $1500. They sell at auction from between $1000-$2000. Dont mean to rain on your parade but a more cost effective vehicle I would highly recommend.
Otherwise yes as others have said garden for awhile on credit cards.

[Anonymous]

I recall a discussion with you a few weeks ago where it was determined:

(a) you're a legal minor i.e. you're under the age of 21

(b) you had no easily provable income.

Because of the restrictions on extending credit to minors by the CARD Act (2009) you will find it difficult to obtain credit while those two factors remain true.  My advice to you is to stop applying for credit.  I say this especially in the context of your career aspirations; you can bet that if you apply to any of the "Big Four" they will do a thorough check of your credit history.  The last thing you want is a negative on your record that can potentially affect your career prospects for at least 7 years.

[HeavenOhio]

@Anonymous, garden for a year. This will cause all of your inquiries to become unscorable, and your recently acquired accounts should start working for you instead of against you.

In the short term, expect a significant score drop from all the new accounts. And hope that nobody closes one of your new cards (particularly Chase) due to too much recently acquired credit.

In the future, don't spree. Don't apply for any more than two cards at once. Ideally, pace yourself so you apply for no more than one card every six months. Although you can adjust this a bit, I like the idea of acquiring cards in months 1, 7, 13, 19, and 25. If you apply for something a little early, garden a little longer. Just make sure card #5 comes no sooner than the 25-month point.

This pace should keep you from being denied based on too many new accounts or inquiries. And eventually, it will set you up so you're always less than 5/24. That's Chase's policy of denying applications when one has acquired five or more cards in the past 24 months. As it stands, you're not going to be able to get another Chase card for two years. Staying at less than 5/24 is also a good idea for any card.

If you're acquiring cards at a "normal" pace, you shouldn't have any trouble with an auto loan. Likewise, a new auto loan shouldn't disrupt your ability to continue to acquire cards at a reasonable pace.

When a mortgage app is on the radar, garden for a year. This will give you an easy scoring bump (about 20 points) for your AoYA (age of youngest account) reaching a year.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
As someone who works in the car industry. (BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Porsche Master Certified Tech.) I recommend moving on from your Porsche way before 200K. With your income it can get very expensive to repair that vehicle and your at the mileage where big thinks begin to go wrong. Also your resale value will be nonexistent at 200k. We just wholesaled a 2009 Turbo S with about 180k on it for $1500. They sell at auction from between $1000-$2000. Dont mean to rain on your parade but a more cost effective vehicle I would highly recommend.
Otherwise yes as others have said garden for awhile on credit cards.

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@Anonymous wrote:
As someone who works in the car industry. (BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Porsche Master Certified Tech.) I recommend moving on from your Porsche way before 200K. With your income it can get very expensive to repair that vehicle and your at the mileage where big thinks begin to go wrong. Also your resale value will be nonexistent at 200k. We just wholesaled a 2009 Turbo S with about 180k on it for $1500. They sell at auction from between $1000-$2000. Dont mean to rain on your parade but a more cost effective vehicle I would highly recommend.
Otherwise yes as others have said garden for awhile on credit cards.

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Wow how cool, another car person!! Thank you for your reply. I am well aware of the maintenance costs of the Porsche. Thankfully, my parents maintain it for me and will continue to do so until I'm finished with school. My situation is a little strange in that the "income" I am able to report comes from reimbursements from my parents for my college expenses through the form of checks deposited every month. It is nontraditional in the sense that I buy what I need first and then get "income" afterwards.

That being said, the Cayenne has been dealer maintained its whole life and there are no worries of it not lasting me through college. However you are correct, there are defintely more cost effective vehicles out there, but few offer a driving experience as good as the Cayenne! 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I recall a discussion with you a few weeks ago where it was determined:

(a) you're a legal minor i.e. you're under the age of 21

(b) you had no easily provable income.

Because of the restrictions on extending credit to minors by the CARD Act (2009) you will find it difficult to obtain credit while those two factors remain true.  My advice to you is to stop applying for credit.  I say this especially in the context of your career aspirations; you can bet that if you apply to any of the "Big Four" they will do a thorough check of your credit history.  The last thing you want is a negative on your record that can potentially affect your career prospects for at least 7 years.

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Oh yes, you are correct! Forgive me but I forgot all about that when making this post. I will certainly garden well past my 21st birthday and until I graduate and have a traditional income.

Thank you so much for the insight in regards to the Big Four. I had not considered this before and truthfully had no idea they ran credit checks, but of course it makes sense that they would. I will defintely halt credit applications until after I graduate and the job searching process has, for the time being, come to an end.

[Anonymous]

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@HeavenOhio wrote:

@Anonymous, garden for a year. This will cause all of your inquiries to become unscorable, and your recently acquired accounts should start working for you instead of against you.

In the short term, expect a significant score drop from all the new accounts. And hope that nobody closes one of your new cards (particularly Chase) due to too much recently acquired credit.

In the future, don't spree. Don't apply for any more than two cards at once. Ideally, pace yourself so you apply for no more than one card every six months. Although you can adjust this a bit, I like the idea of acquiring cards in months 1, 7, 13, 19, and 25. If you apply for something a little early, garden a little longer. Just make sure card #5 comes no sooner than the 25-month point.

This pace should keep you from being denied based on too many new accounts or inquiries. And eventually, it will set you up so you're always less than 5/24. That's Chase's policy of denying applications when one has acquired five or more cards in the past 24 months. As it stands, you're not going to be able to get another Chase card for two years. Staying at less than 5/24 is also a good idea for any card.

If you're acquiring cards at a "normal" pace, you shouldn't have any trouble with an auto loan. Likewise, a new auto loan shouldn't disrupt your ability to continue to acquire cards at a reasonable pace.

When a mortgage app is on the radar, garden for a year. This will give you an easy scoring bump (about 20 points) for your AoYA (age of youngest account) reaching a year.

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Thank you for your reply! Thats a really good strategy and a good way to look at it. I'll defintely halt credit applications for at least a year. 

I read somewhere on this form that people do "app sprees," so I figured that this kind of applying was normal. You're definately right and it makes more sense to keep it to two cards in the future. I'll employ your stragegy going forward. It sounds like it works really well!

Thanks again!