What to do with unused credit?

[Anonymous]

Fella's..this is my first post so please bear with me..
I have couple of cards with reasonable limits that have supported my AAOA so far since opening in 2007. US cash+ (14k), Freedom (11k), DCU (10k), PNC (3.5k)..ov er next few years i got enticed to bonuses and got FirstTech, DiscoverIT, Amex Clear, Citi simplicity in 2013....I have already closed Citi Simplicity after i paid off balance it carried.
I have no use of PNC, FirstTech, DCU at all..PNC never did PC or CLI even with 2 HP over years. DCU/FirstTech have no rewards to use and Amex would not PC Clear to anything...
With so much hacking happening, I want to consolidate and not having to worry about checking allll my accounts to see if it is still 0 and safe. Please suggest, what cards to "Just Close" or convert to something useful. FYI, gardening since April 2013.

[NRB525]

If you have no use for specific cards, you can close them. However, are you planning on looking for anything significant like a mortgage or auto loan? If so, you likely don't want to be cutting off half your cards right before that.

The "hacking" issues aren't really going to affect you directly. The card companies are watching those accounts fairly closely, so any strange spend would usually be flagged. But, if you don't want to hassle with them, just close them.

[Anonymous]

I would just close them. Having cards open you dont use makes no sense. Its so liberating to close unused cards 

[Anonymous]

Thanks a lot for reply...here is a related q..my amex clear has high limit 25k..Haven't really tried hard yet, but can i open a new (useful no AF) amex card and port my MSD to new card and then close Clear? Similarly do banks keep my msd as original card's date? That could at least help convert some of these SD cards to usable based on what I am buying.

[Anonymous]

I have no immediate need for loans, but straightaway cling would affect total credit line and may be average age of history..prefer chaning to useful cards or else close them.

[NRB525]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks a lot for reply...here is a related q..my amex clear has high limit 25k..Haven't really tried hard yet, but can i open a new (useful no AF) amex card and port my MSD to new card and then close Clear? Similarly do banks keep my msd as original card's date? That could at least help convert some of these SD cards to usable based on what I am buying.

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You missed this one by a few months for AMEX. They are no longer backdating on the credit reports. No other bank would do that before, now none do. Your card will have the old open date, but not your actual credit report.

If the Clear is aged properly (13 statements no changes in CL) then you could move the credit line over to a new no-AF AMEX card.

What you should to is call AMEX and ask if your Clear is eligible to product change to some other AMEX card. The worst they can say is, not eligible. The Clear is old and odd enough that there might be a PC available. In that case, it should keep the old account open date as is.

[Anonymous]

Great...I will start with trying Clear->Blue cash.

[Anonymous]

I have never really understood the "close it" mentality. When all these accounts that get closed fall off your credit report in 10 years, you will have a major dip in your average age of accounts. Sure it may not seem like a big deal now, but when your AAoA goes from say 10-20 years to say 5 years, you will probably kick yourself for closing "unneeded" accounts.

[Anonymous]

Snip, snip. ✂

[Kostya1992]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I have never really understood the "close it" mentality. When all these accounts that get closed fall off your credit report in 10 years, you will have a major dip in your average age of accounts. Sure it may not seem like a big deal now, but when your AAoA goes from say 10-20 years to say 5 years, you will probably kick yourself for closing "unneeded" accounts.

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This. Put them all in a safe place and use each one once every 6 months to purchase a coffee.