Too Few Accounts Payed as Agreed versus average age of accounts?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

BTW, credit.com is a free tool based on Experian data.  Its dashboard includes a computation of one's AAoA.  It correctly includes both closed and open accounts.  Its scores may be of little help, since they are non-FICO, but it's a nice free tool to assess one's AAoA.

I agree with the other folks that you'll benefit from adding a few more credit cards.  Given that you have exactly one open card, getting two more cards will even give you benefit in the short term.  Certainly it is the right decision for the medium to long term.

Quick question... I am woefully ignorant about how divorces work.  But I am curious to hear (if the OP cares to elaborate) why all of his many open (and old) accounts were closed during the divorce.  Some of these I understand: e.g. a house that the couple lives in is sold, or the OP is removed from credit cards on which he was an authorized user.  And if all of the accounts were like that, this would explain it.  But if the OP had credit cards in his/her own name, especially if they were 20+ years old, it's not clear to me why a divorce would require them to be closed.  Again, it's a subject I know very little about.

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Hi Credit Guy in Dixie:

I am woefully ignorant re: acronyms on this site.  Sorry, no clue what an OP is.  I was an authorized user on multiple credit cards, and came off following the divorce.  I was also listed jointly on several mortgages and lines of credit, all of which were acquired by my former spouse in the divorce. I quit claimed the real estate, and he refinanced the properties, closing the joint loans. As a full time homemaker who didn't anticipate being single, I had limited capacity and little interest in establishing credit in my own name.  Never had anything in my name only.  Hindsight is 20/20. Lesson learned the hard way.  Perhaps it may benefit someone reading this thread. 

[Anonymous]

OP is used a lot on this site.  It means Original Poster, the person who initially started that particular discussion thread.

Here's a good overview of all the abbreviations you may encounter. 

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/User-Guidelines-General/Common-Abbreviations/m-p/88458

Thanks for the feedback.  I was guessing that you might have been a homemaker who was an AU on all the family credit cards.

So very sorry to hear about the end to your marriage, but hope you stick around here and let the folks on the forum do their best to help you out.

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

BTW, credit.com is a free tool based on Experian data.  Its dashboard includes a computation of one's AAoA.  It correctly includes both closed and open accounts.  Its scores may be of little help, since they are non-FICO, but it's a nice free tool to assess one's AAoA.

I agree with the other folks that you'll benefit from adding a few more credit cards.  Given that you have exactly one open card, getting two more cards will even give you benefit in the short term.  Certainly it is the right decision for the medium to long term.

Quick question... I am woefully ignorant about how divorces work.  But I am curious to hear (if the OP cares to elaborate) why all of his many open (and old) accounts were closed during the divorce.  Some of these I understand: e.g. a house that the couple lives in is sold, or the OP is removed from credit cards on which he was an authorized user.  And if all of the accounts were like that, this would explain it.  But if the OP had credit cards in his/her own name, especially if they were 20+ years old, it's not clear to me why a divorce would require them to be closed.  Again, it's a subject I know very little about.

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Hi Credit Guy in Dixie:

I am woefully ignorant re: acronyms on this site.  Sorry, no clue what an OP is.  I was an authorized user on multiple credit cards, and came off following the divorce.  I was also listed jointly on several mortgages and lines of credit, all of which were acquired by my former spouse in the divorce. I quit claimed the real estate, and he refinanced the properties, closing the joint loans. As a full time homemaker who didn't anticipate being single, I had limited capacity and little interest in establishing credit in my own name.  Never had anything in my name only.  Hindsight is 20/20. Lesson learned the hard way.  Perhaps it may benefit someone reading this thread. 

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Don't worry, it's not too late.

[Anonymous]

I kinda feel woried about one 25 year  closed card dropping off in another year or so. It reports on two cb.   I have 5 or 6 cards open all under 2 years.  All my cards are top shelf so I really don't need any more.  I am working on raising the limits on several.  DW Amex BCP gets the most use at our house and has the highest limit of any of our cards.   Her cards are slightly older running from 4 years to 8 months. 

[Anonymous]

You don't say this, but I am guessing that:

(a)  The 25-year old closed card is the oldest account on your report.

(b)  Your next oldest account is < 2 years old.

If both are true, then your Age of Oldest Account will be dropping from 26 to under 2.9 in about one year from now.  When that happens, that could have a significant effect on your score, since Age of Oldest is one of the factors FICO uses to assign you to a "scorecard."  Additionally your AAoA (Average Age of Accounts) will also go down, though we'd need to know your current AAoA and total number of accounts to assess by how much.

You mention that you are trying to raise your credit limits.  That's fine, but just as an FYI you can have a perfect 850 FICO score with very low limits, so you don't have to worry a lot about raising them.  Feel free to do that, however, if it will be more convenient for you.

[Anonymous]

Backwoods, did you open any other accounts at all between 2 years ago and 25 years ago that weren't credit cards?  Keep in mind oldest account means any account, so if you had a loan at all during those 23 years for example your AoOA may not actually be dropping by that amount, even if your oldest revolver on your credit report is dropping to 2-3 years.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Backwoods, did you open any other accounts at all between 2 years ago and 25 years ago that weren't credit cards?  Keep in mind oldest account means any account, so if you had a loan at all during those 23 years for example your AoOA may not actually be dropping by that amount, even if your oldest revolver on your credit report is dropping to 2-3 years.

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Hey BBS.  The same applies if he has another old closed credit card.  His post doesn't rule out the possibility that he has a 20 year or even a 30 year old closed credit card on his report in addition to the 25 year one he mentions.

[Anonymous]

Yes, you are correct and good call on that as well.  I would say that the probability of there not being another account between 25 years and 2-3 years of age is quite small, but you definitely never know.