I gotta say with that many cards, there's no concern of score drop in 10 years. I noticed some of those small cards probably have annual fees and little to no value. Close them.
@Rockysocks wrote:
@JNA1 wrote:
@Jackrabbits wrote:Thank you to everyone for posting their advice. Technically, this is my first post. Again thanks to everyone who took the time to respond.
One thing to keep it mind is that if your ratio of cards with balances drop below certain thresholds, you can be dinged a little bit. For instance, if you have 10 cards and have 4 with balances, and you close 5, you'll have balances on 80% of cards instead of 40%.
This is separate than utilization ratio.This is the one thing keeping me from closing a few of mine. Do we know what that ratio is or, comparatively, how much that ding will be? Would you advise not to go over 50%? In other words, don't have more cards with balances than cards without a balance?
There is a penalty of a few points, but I don't think it is much on FICO 8. For the mortgage score versions that ratio effect could be more significant. But even that, I would question. We got a house purchase and mortgage earlier this year, and as far as I can tell there wasn't anything else I could do to get a better mortgage rate. I make a point of using nearly all my cards for something each month, even if it is just holding a balance transfer over time, and I wasn't penalized in the mortgage rate.
Getting back to the OP question, if you aren't willing to check each CC account on line at least once per month when the statement is available, that card is a risk that some charge shows up that you miss, and is a risk you get a 30-day late. This is especially true with the predatory rebuilder cards where no one knows all the potential fee structures.
Sock drawer is fine if the card isn't being used; ignoring a live credit card is not fine.
@longtimelurker wrote:
@NRB525 wrote:
Sock drawer is fine if the card isn't being used; ignoring a live credit card is not fine.
There is a small risk even then, While you aren't responsible for fraudulent charges (usually, see recent chase example reported here!), you want to catch them early. Plus, you might have say a yearly subscription that you have forgotten about (or, also likely, thought was cancelled but isn't!) that gets charged. Yes, this is then "being used" but you might not think so.
I thought that was the next sentence?
@longtimelurker wrote:
@NRB525 wrote:
Sock drawer is fine if the card isn't being used; ignoring a live credit card is not fine.
There is a small risk even then, While you aren't responsible for fraudulent charges (usually, see recent chase example reported here!), you want to catch them early. Plus, you might have say a yearly subscription that you have forgotten about (or, also likely, thought was cancelled but isn't!) that gets charged. Yes, this is then "being used" but you might not think so.
Yep... this is why I check ALL my banks at least once a month to make sure there aren't any surprises, even if they are in the sock drawer.
In regard to sock drawer candidates, some may have card management toggles allowing a 'lock' or 'freeze' to add another layer of security to idle cards.
@NRB525 wrote:
@longtimelurker wrote:
@NRB525 wrote:
Sock drawer is fine if the card isn't being used; ignoring a live credit card is not fine.
There is a small risk even then, While you aren't responsible for fraudulent charges (usually, see recent chase example reported here!), you want to catch them early. Plus, you might have say a yearly subscription that you have forgotten about (or, also likely, thought was cancelled but isn't!) that gets charged. Yes, this is then "being used" but you might not think so.
I thought that was the next sentence?
Right, but I meant that you might not think a card is live when it actually is.
@longtimelurker wrote:
@NRB525 wrote:
@longtimelurker wrote:
@NRB525 wrote:
Sock drawer is fine if the card isn't being used; ignoring a live credit card is not fine.
There is a small risk even then, While you aren't responsible for fraudulent charges (usually, see recent chase example reported here!), you want to catch them early. Plus, you might have say a yearly subscription that you have forgotten about (or, also likely, thought was cancelled but isn't!) that gets charged. Yes, this is then "being used" but you might not think so.
I thought that was the next sentence?
Right, but I meant that you might not think a card is live when it actually is.
In my simplistic thinking, a card is either Closed, and thus not a concern, or Live ( Open ) and by default a concern to be watched. Whether it is exhibiting any attributes of life at any moment is not relevant. The possibility of activity of any kind on the open card is where the risk arises. Any Live contract / card must be monitored. We agree, but I needed to flog the dead horse for good measure