Trying to set myself up for success, please help:

[ccsauer]

 Hi all! I';vebeen a member here for a while, and you have all helped me figure a lot out, and the following is the result of all that help. I'm 26 years old, married, own my home, and have a car payment.

Ok, so, basically, I want to set myself up at an early age so I have a good amoutn of credit available while, obviously, making my credit score as high as possible. Here's where I'm at:

Currently, my scores are 746, 731, 730. Yes, I know this is really good, but as I'm sure you can all relate, I'd like to get it as high as possible. I'm definitely not going to stress about it though. 

Accounts right now:

First mortgage - $233,000 at 6.25% w/ my wife

Second Mortgage - $41,000 at 8% w/ my wife

Student Loan - $4000 at some low percent, not entirely sure, just mine

Car - $16,000 at 7.25%, w/ my wife

 All these accoutns are only in my name, for now:

Chase Freedom World MasterCard - $6,200 at 10%, $20,000 limit

Bank of America Platinum Plus WorldPoints Visa - $0 at 14%, $20,000 limit

Bank of America (Used to be MBNA) Platinum Plus MasterCard - $6,000 at 12.75% (technically, at 0% due to special, for now) , $20,000 limit

American Express Blue Cash - $0 at 0% for now, 10% later, $4,500 limit

Discover More (w/cashback bonus) - $0 at 0% for now, 10% later (just signed up, don't know the limit)

So, i signed up for the last 2 'cause they're good cards, they;d add to my UTI, and I didn';t have an AMEx or Discover. Thoughts?

I'm not sure if these count, but we also have (all joint accounts):

 Schwab Invester Checking account - somewhere around 2.5% interest (with a visa debit card)

GMAC Money market savings account -  ~3% interest

US Bank checking account - .5% interest (for the easy-access of banks)

OK, thoughts? how to improve? am I pretty solid? What can I do? when I find out the limit on the discover, my plan was to transfer the cc debt over there for now, and hopefully have it paid off by june-july 2009

Let me know, please!

[Anonymous]

You look pretty good to me. Maybe add in a credit union. Penfed seems to be the best around here for those who don't have alot of new accounts, inquiries and have a decent EQ FICO.

If you aren't in the military, you can join NMFA for $20 to be eligible to join. They have an excellent cash rewards card if you are interested in earning cash back.

https://www.penfed.org/howToJoin/overview.asp

[ccsauer]

Anyone else have an opinion to my suituation or to Stef's helpful advice? does that advice seem right? Anyone else have another route to take?

[cobaltnv]

ccsauer,

 Seems to me like you have a good mix of cards. I am not sure you need anything else. Certainly Stef's idea of a cu card is reasonable, if you are looking for another card. Keep in mind that you will need to use all cards every 6 months or so, so the more cards you have the more hassle it is to keep track of them.

 It looks like your wife is joint with you on a number of cards/loans, does she have any cards in her name only? If not I would recommend she get a card of her own.  Many ccc will not allow you to add a joint user after you get a card--you can often only do this at signup. Authorized users can be added at any time. My wife and I each have our own cards and are au on some cards (but not all cards). This allows both people to build up a credit history.

Cheers 

Message Edited by cobaltnv on 12-10-2008 11:53 AM

[Anonymous]

You can do some searches for Penfed here if you would like. They can be very generous if the income is up there.

Check out their Platinum rewards card.

https://www.penfed.org/productsandrates/creditcards/rewardcards.asp

You already have some good limits and I expect they would meet or beat your current ones.

ETA: With a CU, there is less likely to be any rate jacking, CLD, or account closures. This is a rather violatile time with the major banks right now, but I'm sure you are aware of this. A CU offers some safety.

Message Edited by stef37 on 12-10-2008 11:50 AM

[Anonymous]

Adding a store or gas card might get you a few points.  Also lowering your utilization might get you a few points.  I calculated total limit of $64,500 and total balance of $12,200 for total utilization of 18.9%, although as you mentioned the Discover card will help with total utilization.  Optimal for most people is 1-9% in total and per card. Having the whole balance on Discover might not be the best but you'd get any points back when the balances are paid off, if you lose any.

[Not_the_Point]

ccauser,

I noticed you don't have any vendor cards on your profile. You might want to consider picking up a Gas card or a Sears card... not the ones branded VISA or MC, but the ones where it's just the merchant's card. This would help with your mix of credit.

I would recommend paying down the Chase Freedom until your BoA MC's 0% interest expires and then begin paying that one down. Both of those cards are around 30% of their utilization, but otherwise you're looking good.