AAoA Question - Help!

[MBOhio2]

I've read the threads on how youe AAoA is affected by closing a card, but I'm admittedly confused and I'm hoping someone can advise on my specific situation.

Age of oldest account: 10.1 years

AAoA: 6.0 years

I have a credit card to a furniture store that I opened in 2006 while living in Chicago. This store is only located in Chicago. I now live in Ohio so the card is useless to me. The original limit was $2500. At some point along the way (while my card was maxed out and after a late paynment), the limit was reduced to $100. The current balance is $1600. I plan to pay this card in full next month. Since the limit is now $100 and I will literally never use this card again, I would like to close it (also want to avoid them closing it for inactivity). However, I don't want to damage my AAoA. One would think that closing a card that is younger than my current AAoA would help my AAoA, but I understand that's not how it works.

Can someone please explain how closing the above-mentioned card will affect my AAoA now and going forward?

I want to purchase a home next year, so I don't want to make any negative changes now. Thanks!!

[Anonymous]

It will help contribute to your AAoA for 10 years after you close it.  Don't worry about it.

[MBOhio2]

So closing it won't negatively affect me?

Everytime I read the info about how closing an account affects the AAoA, it sounds like closing the account almost holds your AAoA hostage as if the closed account stops aging. Am I understanding that incorrectly?

AS an FYI, I got the one late removed with a GW, so the account reflects a perfect payment history now and is completely positive.

[llecs]

Ditto. For as long as it reports, it'll be OK, opened or closed.

Some do confuse how AAoA is calculated. Some FAKOs like CreditKarma only factor in open OC accounts into AAoA and that tends to confuse some.

[MarineVietVet]

---

@MBOhio2 wrote:

So closing it won't negatively affect me?

Everytime I read the info about how closing an account affects the AAoA, it sounds like closing the account almost holds your AAoA as if the closed account stops again. Am I understanding that incorrectly?

AS an FYI, I got the one late removed with a GW, so the account reflects a perfect payment history now and is completely positive.

---

It won't affect your AAoA but it might hurt you in another way and I'll explain.

Once you close this card you will lose it's CL and if you have a balance on this account or any other credit cards losing that CL will raise your uitlization and that might hurt you depending on how much the utilization goes up.

Have you read this thread about Closing Credit Cards?

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 9/09 pulled by lender 802, EQ - 10/10-813, TU - 10/10-774

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem".

[MBOhio2]

Marine - Thanks for the info. The utilization issue is sort of moot because: 1) the limit on this card is just $100; 2) my other credit cards have limits in the $1500-2500 range, so the $100 is a drop in the bucket; and 3) over the next six months, I plan to get all of my utlization % under 10% so it won't matter beyond the next few months.

Also, my concern is that I literally cannot use this card because they do not have online purchasing and their only stores are out of state for me. Therefore, I'm just going to have a random store CC with a $100 limit and no activity sitting there. I would hate for the CCC to close the account when I could have done so on my own and gotten the "closed at request of cardholder." Also, it's just one more account to keep in mind and manage and unless it's going to hurt me, I'd rather just close it and move on.

Outside of AAoA and Util %, is there any other way that closing this account can hurt me?

[MarineVietVet]

---

@MBOhio2 wrote:

Marine - Thanks for the info. The utilization issue is sort of moot because: 1) the limit on this card is just $100; 2) my other credit cards have limits in the $1500-2500 range, so the $100 is a drop in the bucket; and 3) over the next six months, I plan to get all of my utlization % under 10% so it won't matter beyond the next few months.

Also, my concern is that I literally cannot use this card because they do not have online purchasing and their only stores are out of state for me. Therefore, I'm just going to have a random store CC with a $100 limit and no activity sitting there. I would hate for the CCC to close the account when I could have done so on my own and gotten the "closed at request of cardholder." Also, it's just one more account to keep in mind and manage and unless it's going to hurt me, I'd rather just close it and move on.

Outside of AAoA and Util %, is there any other way that closing this account can hurt me?

---

It doesn't matter anymore whether a consumer closes an account or the creditor does. So don't be concerned about that.

I see no other way closing this can hurt you but did you read that thread? It explains things much better than I can.

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 9/09 pulled by lender 802, EQ - 10/10-813, TU - 10/10-774

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem".

[MBOhio2]

Sorry I didn't answer before - yes, I did read that thread, before I created this post.