Average age problem

[Anonymous]

Hello,

My oldest credit accounts are my negative ones and are closed. They will drop off in six months and during the last years I haven't applied for credit because I was either denied previously or rates were too high. I have waited until my scores are better --670, 674, 717. By delaying, I will have all new credit and my average age and oldest will drop to two years. I am guessing there is no solution to this correct?

Whats a good number of credit accounts to have and should I open more credit cards now and just wait until they all get older or stay with the two I have (both 2015)

thanks 

[sarge12]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Hello,

My oldest credit accounts are my negative ones and are closed. They will drop off in six months and during the last years I haven't applied for credit because I was either denied previously or rates were too high. I have waited until my scores are better --670, 674, 717. By delaying, I will have all new credit and my average age and oldest will drop to two years. I am guessing there is no solution to this correct?

Whats a good number of credit accounts to have and should I open more credit cards now and just wait until they all get older or stay with the two I have (both 2015)

thanks 

---

That AAoA metric is not one of the most important factors in your score. Focus on making payments on time and keeping utilization low. My AAoA is identified as poor due to a few new accounts and my scores are around 800.

[Anonymous]

When you say they are going to drop off, do you mean it will be 10 years since they were closed? Or 7 years since the negative entries occurred?

[Anonymous]

I don't know when they will close. The report on shows date opens, last activity and status date. I was calculating 10 years from when They were opened 

[takeshi74]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

I am guessing there is no solution to this correct? 

---

Sure there is.  Time.

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Whats a good number of credit accounts to have and should I open more credit cards now and just wait until they all get older or stay with the two I have (both 2015) 

---

There's no set number.  At least 2-3 are generally suggested for scoring purposes.

Keep in mind that opening an account will drop your AAoA.  As mentioned above, Length of Credit History is typically ~15% so keep it in perspective.

http://www.myfico.com/crediteducation/whatsinyourscore.aspx

---

@Anonymous wrote:

I don't know when they will close. The report on shows date opens, last activity and status date. I was calculating 10 years from when They were opened 

---

See the Closing Credit Cards thread in the Helpful Threads sticky in the Credit Cards subforum.  It is 10 years from closure.

[sarge12]

---

@takeshi74 wrote:

---

@Anonymous wrote:

I am guessing there is no solution to this correct? 

---

Sure there is.  Time.

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Whats a good number of credit accounts to have and should I open more credit cards now and just wait until they all get older or stay with the two I have (both 2015) 

---

There's no set number.  At least 2-3 are generally suggested for scoring purposes.

Keep in mind that opening an account will drop your AAoA.  As mentioned above, Length of Credit History is typically ~15% so keep it in perspective.

http://www.myfico.com/crediteducation/whatsinyourscore.aspx

---

@Anonymous wrote:

I don't know when they will close. The report on shows date opens, last activity and status date. I was calculating 10 years from when They were opened 

---

See the Closing Credit Cards thread in the Helpful Threads sticky in the Credit Cards subforum.  It is 10 years from closure.

---

I would want to add that length of history is comprised of both age of oldest account and AAoA, which together account for ~15% of score. Now how much of that 15% is AAoA and how much of it is oldest account only fico knows!

[Grafton88]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Hello,

My oldest credit accounts are my negative ones and are closed. They will drop off in six months and during the last years I haven't applied for credit because I was either denied previously or rates were too high. I have waited until my scores are better --670, 674, 717. By delaying, I will have all new credit and my average age and oldest will drop to two years. I am guessing there is no solution to this correct?

Whats a good number of credit accounts to have and should I open more credit cards now and just wait until they all get older or stay with the two I have (both 2015)

thanks 

---

Your accounts will stay on your report for 10 years from when they are closed.

Do you have any bad marks on your reports?  That causes the worst problems as far as scoring.

My AAoA is under 1 year and my scores are pretty good.

I would only suggest your getting new credit cards if they are a benefit to you financially not just for scoring purposes.  Are any of your older accounts installment loans?  A good credit mix can be beneficial.

How many accounts are currently showing on your reports?