@The_Crusader wrote:Thanks for your response. What's my path there? My curent icome is $ 255,000. The plan is to reduce the CLU to 10% and under. Any cards you suggest looking into etc.?
@JoeRockhead wrote:Most over achievers with those kinds of total limits have high income, low debt and reported utilization. They also generally have a thick profile with a long history.
It takes time and/or substantial assets to build that kind of profile.
@JoeRockhead already identified the main path for you.
High income - Your income is sufficient to start increasing your current credit limits, but it might not be enough to take you all the way to your end goal. Find ways to increase your income.
Low debt - You have $140,000 in revolving debt. This is your biggest hurdle as lenders will hesitate to extend further credit to someone who is already carrying that much credit card debt. Pay off this debt as quickly as possible.
Low utilization - You have already stated a plan to reduce utilization to under 10%. Achieving this interim goal will go a long way towards eventually reaching the end goal of $1 mil in credit limits. This can be reached by both paying down your balances as well as requesting CLIs (credit limit increases) on your existing cards.
Thick profile - If you already have 11 credit cards, that is plenty to establish a thick profile. How many closed accounts show up on your credit reports? Closed tradelines will add to the thickness of your profile.
Long history - Your oldest account age of 18 years is pretty good. What is your average age of accounts? If you have too many newer accounts (less than 2 years old), that could also give lenders pause as that is viewed as "credit seeking behavior". Adding more new accounts now will only make that problem worse.
Time - This is a key factor that cannot be artificially accelerated. Your goal is likely to take years, or even decades, to achieve.
Substantial assets - Having substantial assets is one way to jump the queue. What do banks consider substantial? It varies widely. Some gains can be found at a mass affluent level of $100,000-$250,000. But, the gates will won't really start to open until we are talking 7 to 8 figures in assets. That's when private banking options start to become available.
$140k in revolving debt?
You leave yourself open to the whims of your lenders. I presume that you're relying on short-term promo rate balance transfers to keep the interest cost "reasonable". On the drop of a hat you could find yourself unable to roll your low rates forward and be stuck carrying this debt at 20%+ rates.
Ideally, you should only tap revolving debt for balances you expect to repay in full within 3 years. Any longer term debt should only be financed under fixed term, fixed rate terms.
From what you detail, you're in a precarious position. Rather than focusing on expansion of your revolving lines, I advise seeking out reputable lenders who specialize in providing $50k+ loans to credit-stable high income individuals.
I don't have any experience with such lenders (a HELOC would be my "go to".) However, we receive regular solicitations from BHG Financial with such offers touting reasonable rates on unsecured loans.
Of course, your current utilization may be a barrier to getting the best rates. You may need to restructure your debt in a phased manner, reducing your utilization in steps and gradually gaining access to lower rates.
