Married - FICO Scores

[Anonymous]

I am recently married.  We are a senior citizen couple and each have major credit cards, store credit cards, etc.

We don't want to have all these duplicates.  If we close accounts because of this will it have a negative effect on our scores?  How do we handle this as I have a score above 800, so does he.

[Anonymous]

Congrats on your recent nuptials.

I would live with the duplicates. I am assuming (since your scores as so high and you are a senior couple) you've each had your cards for many years. Length of credit history, as well as utility, are major components in credit scoring.

Anyway, IMO, it's always better to have your own cc's.

[RobertEG]

Hi, and congrats on the new marriage!

I know that keeping up with all those cards is a pain, and I see the motivation to ditch some.  It might be worth it in your case!

The first question I would ask is whether or not you will be seeking new credit in the near future.  Many seniors are not in the market for mortgage loans, and only every few years for an auto loan.  And clearly, you are not considering applying for new CCs!  Your FICO scores mean little unless you are seeking new credit, or are in a current credit problem.

If you still have a concern about FICO score impact, the impact on closing accounts will be two-fold.  First, you will lose the CL on the card, which might affect your %util.  But with scores now of over 800, it is clear that all are now near 0% util, so the affect will probably be minimal.  Second, closing an account will not cause loss of its age in your credit history scoring for approx. ten years, so that is not of any immediate concern.

 

Normally, it is not wise to close accounts, but in your case it might make some sound administrative sense, with little or no FICO impact.