@Thomas_Thumb wrote:[Relative to the OPs question - it is well known that an exceptional credit mix is NOT needed for top scores. Heck a recent post, by Ubuntu, on MyFico stated he had an 850 Fico 8 score with no open or closed installment loans in his credit file]. Short cut to post provided below.
From the above posts with exceptional ratings both have more than 20 accounts on file - heck more than 20 revolving credit card accounts alone. Also both have a combination of installment loans (open/closed). Mix does consider closed accounts.
Outside of some potential preferred mix ratio it sure looks like a high QTY of accounts [cards] may be needed to be "Fico exceptional". Perhaps the CK table recreated below is not too far off if count is king.
21+
EXCELLENT
11-20
GOOD
6-10
POOR
0-5
VERY POOR
So far no definitive answer on whether multiple loan types are needed for Exceptional rating and whether a charge card helps - Both posters with Exceptional rating have these in their file history.
Below is an article I came across speaking to mix.
Do You Really Need to Worry About Your Credit Mix?
Which types of accounts increase your credit variety?
If you want to keep things simple, credit can be broken into two categories that contribute to your account diversity: (1) Revolving lines of credit (ie, credit cards) and (2) installment accounts (student loans, mortgages, car loans, etc.), says Wayne Sanford, founder of Dallas-Fort Worth–based New Start Financial.
Why does FICO reward those who have both? Keeping up with installment loans demonstrates the reliability lenders like – but these loans also come with a big incentive to make payments on time (they’re often secured with your house or vehicle). Revolving accounts give you a lot more freedom to fail, since you don’t run the risk of losing the things you bought with them.
The idea is to show lenders that you can handle both levels of responsibility.
Within revolving and installment credit accounts, there is a wealth of other account types: store credit cards, charge cards, auto loans and mortgage loans. So does having, say, a store card and a card issued by your bank contribute to your credit variety? No, according to Sprauve.
“The score doesn’t see your Sears or Macy’s card differently than another credit card,” he says.
As for charge cards, FICO does view them differently from regular revolving cards, and they would therefore contribute to your credit mix, Sprauve says. There’s just one complication: Cards marketed as charge cards don’t always report to the bureaus as charge cards. If it doesn’t show up as a charge card on your reports, it won’t be factored into the credit mix portion of your FICO as a different type of card.
“It’s hard to distinguish between how the card is marketed and how it’s reported,” Sprauve says.
What about closed accounts? Does that car loan you paid off or that card you closed still factor into your credit variety? Closed accounts stay on your reports for between seven and 10 years (depending on the circumstances), and, during that time, they will continue to get factored into your credit mix, Sprauve says.
Is there an ideal credit mix?
There’s no magic combination of ingredients for the perfect credit mix salad. Nor does FICO like certain ingredients more than others. The way FICO sees it, having a credit card and a car loan is just as good as having a credit card and a mortgage.
“The score is looking at the mix,” Sprauve says. “It’s seeing that this person has two types of credit, or this person has three types of credit, or this person has one type. But it’s not ranking one type of credit higher than another.”
A rule of thumb, Sanford says, might be to shoot for two or three revolving accounts for every installment account (while not going overboard and digging yourself into debt, of course). But even that combo might not be the best solution for every consumer.
“Every credit profile is a thumb print, and every thumb print is different,” Sanford says. “What will affect one person one way won’t affect another person the same way. It’s a loose-fitting formula.
Excellent info from the article Tomthumb. I know my util needs to come down more but nothing i can do about credit age. This was from the last report i got from fico so it is growing. I also have not applied for anything in the last 3 months so im sure this will help eventually. My thinking is once my Average age hits 2years then i will finally get some points from that catagory. As im certain im not getting a single point from credit age which accounts for 15% of a fico score. How im over 700 is perplexing at best. Maybe payment history. not sure. You have 850 scores across the board so you are doing everything right and your advice is extremly valuble to those of us trying to raise their scores.
@Anonymous wrote:
@Thomas_Thumb wrote:Taxi818, Look forward to the post. Can you also please tell us your ratio of revolving accounts to total accounts
(note AMEX charge cards and store cards are typically lumped in with standard credit cards for this metric).
Inverse - Information I have seen indicates mix does look at ratio and that revolving accounts should optimally be 70% to 80% of the total mix. I suspect you are well below 50% on this ratio particularly if closed accounts are included in the calculation
The link I gave above with quotes from a FICO spokesman indicates that "charge cards" and "store cards" affect mix differently. I may be the right one to test this since I only have 3 major bank cards and that's it.
I have also seen some references recommending that revolving accounts should be 3:1 against installment. And 50% is about my ratio. Didn't hold me back much if any as far as I can tell.
Inverse, I never expected 3 cards or a 50% ratio to hold back your score - just your ability to get the "Fico Exceptional Mix" badge of honor. If you want the badge, it looks like you may need to go on a card app spree. 
BTW - mix includes closed accounts. I thought you have at least 3 car loan and 2 mortgages on file - that's 5 loans minimum in the books. If so, revolving to total = 3/8 = 37.5%. Also, I think I might be missing a loan => 33% revolving/total.