Why should most ER's care about their Credit Score?

[Cut-Throat]

Most ER's on this forum have over a $1 Million liquid and paid off homes and properties. If they are anything like me they charge everything on a Credit Card and pay it off monthly, never really plan on borrowing any money in the future.

So, the question is - Is there any reason to be concerned about your credit score? - I have no idea what mine is, but have never had any problem getting a mortgage, credit card etc. etc.

 

[Martha]

The trend is for more companies to charge you differently depending on your credit score. For example, many property insurers charge based on your credit. Some providers of individual health insurance charge in part and underwrite in part based on your credit score.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I believe auto insurance and possibly other insurance is based at least partly on credit score.

There is a better correlation between insurance payouts and a poor credit score than between payouts and driving record.

 

[donheff]

Most ER's ... If they are anything like me they charge everything on a Credit Card and pay it off monthly, never really plan on borrowing any money in the future.

So, the question is - Is there any reason to be concerned about your credit score? - I have no idea what mine is, but have never had any problem getting a mortgage, credit card etc. etc.

I'm the same. If our credit scores get screwed up it means identity theft or mis-identity. Either would be problematic.

 

[Lsbcal]

I agree that most of us in ER have a marginal need to monitor our credit score. Generally it's pretty high for us. Just recently we took the plunge and put a security freeze on our credit files. Should go a long way towards avoiding ID theft.

Les

 

[lowflyer]

Although I generally fit the profile described...use CC all the time, but pay off each month, etc., a couple years ago, I did get a HE line-o-credit. Of course the high FICO score made it easy as pie. I lease a car (no advice on this please ) and they look at our credit score for that.

Bottom line is that I'd certainly rather keep the score high, with a nice clean record rather than something less than that. It can't hurt.

 

[Cut-Throat]

Bottom line is that I'd certainly rather keep the score high, with a nice clean record rather than something less than that. It can't hurt.

I think that was my point. Just the way we tend to run our financial lives keeps our score high. But we don't really need it. I think this comes under the heading that the bank will give you an umbrella when the sun is shining.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I believe auto insurance and possibly other insurance is based at least partly on credit score.

There is a better correlation between insurance payouts and a poor credit score than between payouts and driving record.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

Some states use this as a way to drive up the costs of insurance for the poorer folks, who also frequently end up being people of color. Outlawed in california and i'm sure a few other states.

Many businesses use the fico score to determine if they'll do business with you and at what cost. When I signed up for a cell phone plan about 7 years ago the guy told me they would have to look up my score before letting me sign their 1 year agreement and getting the free phone. Said below a certain point you had to put a deposit into the account that they'd hold, probably for the amount of the 'free' phone.

 

[bssc]

When we put in an alarm system, they checked our FICO score to determine the deposit.

 

[audreyh1]

Interesting. This makes me want to actually look up my score (no idea). But I think I have to pay to do that, right?

Yeah - I know Verizon did a credit check on me when I signed up for their cellphone plan. It's in my credit report.

Audrey

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

You can get it for free if you sign up for a no-commitment 'credit monitoring' service that'll be a pain in the butt to cancel.

Or pay a little bit to get it...it can be had for $10-20. Your insurance agent might get it for you for free if you live in a state that gauges your rates by fico score, or if you're a bit friendly with them.

You can also pretty much figure it out for yourself, in general terms. Get your free credit report from one of the 3 credit outfits. No late fees, no more than 3 credit cards, no department store cards, not carrying any high balances or a high balance to total credit limit ratio, had credit more than 20 years...your score should be good. Got some 30-day plus late payments, 8 credit cards (5 of which are department store ones), 50% balance to limit ratio and your oldest currently open account is 5 years old? Lousy score.

 

[OAG]

Never gave it much thought. Use CC for almost everything and pay it off each month, mostly before it is due. Virtually never use credit unless it is 0% for some period. Never had a problem with rates. Download the really free credit reports once a year just to check the records. Credit score last time I got it was a tad below the best -- seems that you cannot get to the top unless you have a mortgage (Not for me).

 

[brewer12345]

Interesting. This makes me want to actually look up my score (no idea). But I think I have to pay to do that, right?

If you have a Washington Mutual credit card, they will let you see the score free on their cardholder website.

 

[Andre1969]

I've noticed a lot of places will keep your credit score secret from you when they run your file. However, there were two times when a lender actually told me my credit score. Back in 2002 I went to the local Nissan dealer to look at the new Altimas, and I let them run a credit check on me. They actually told me the score...742.

When I got my HELOC back in early 2005, they also told me the score. By then it was up to 759. I forget what the highest is that it can be...either 800 or 850. I think that once you get above 700 though, you're pretty much golden.

 

[audreyh1]

You can get it for free if you sign up for a no-commitment 'credit monitoring' service that'll be a pain in the butt to cancel.

I already have one of those credit monitoring services since some very sensitive mail suspiciously disappeared a year ago. I guess I need to go to their website and dig around for my info.

Audrey

 

[donheff]

You can get it for free if you sign up for a no-commitment 'credit monitoring' service that'll be a pain in the butt to cancel.

You are entitled to a free report from each rating service once a year. I don't believe it actually contains a FICO score.

 

[tryan]

Yeah they're required to give a "free" report but not the credit score. Been there done that ....

I said on another thread that I was REJECTED for a HELOC re-fi because of "insufficient income". Credit score was mailed with the rejection (730) ... also said the credit score was NOT the problem. Would have been nice to drop the rate 1 point .... but not the end of the world.

Lesson learned was to line up all your credit lines BEFORE FIRE (which we did). And the less liquid your assests are the more credit/flexability you'll need.

 

[Poundkey]

We were told our FICO scores when we bought our new Honda. Mine was 820...wife's was 790. This was 5 years ago when we were both still working. Guess it could be different now. We asked the dealership what it was after they ran it. They didn't seem to mind telling us.

 

[Sandy]

The credit score issue is touchy for us - mine is great, but when my DH got divorced, his X messed up a bunch of CC. He didn't want to fuss with it and opted for a debit card only. So any credit we need, including the mortgage, is in my name only. We are fine, as long as something doesn't happen to me. I have a hard time getting him to see this and act on it to try take steps needed improve his score.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Yeah they're required to give a "free" report but not the credit score. Been there done that ....

I said on another thread that I was REJECTED for a HELOC re-fi because of "insufficient income". Credit score was mailed with the rejection (730) ... also said the credit score was NOT the problem. Would have been nice to drop the rate 1 point .... but not the end of the world.

Lesson learned was to line up all your credit lines BEFORE FIRE (which we did). And the less liquid your assests are the more credit/flexability you'll need.

Huh...I got a heloc several years after retiring and had no problems at all. Maybe my amount was lower ($150k IIRC) or my bank took my assets into consideration. I think at the time my taxable gross income was under $25k per year for that year and the year prior.

Since its a well secured loan (based on your home) thats a weird outcome.

I'll be getting another HELOC from penfed since I canned our DCU account last year. We'll see how that goes.

 

[Andre1969]

I always wondered about loans like an HELOC, mortgage, car loan, etc, once you're retired. For instance, if I had $1M or in my accounts, but didn't have a job, and therefore no wage income, would I have a problem getting a car loan? On one hand, I don't think I should have a problem, since I could easily just pay cash for it if I wanted to. But would the lender see it that way, or just look at the fact that I don't have any steady wage income coming in?

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

You dont have wage income, but you have investment income or some source of funding, or you'd be pretty hungry.

I take the figures from my last three tax returns and average the total 'incomes' including capital gains and dividends/interest. Its usually a decent enough number and with a good credit score, no problems so far.

On the other hand I own my home and cars outright and can list them as assets, along with a seven figure investment portfolio. So anyone that'd refuse me a loan is a little short of brain material.

 

[TromboneAl]

Here's a report on getting my free credit reports from the above link (annualcreditreport.com).

Checking it out through the FTC's site, the site seems genuine. You'll want to know that, because you have to enter things like your SSN. You fill out information to confirm your identity (like old street numbers and zip codes). Then, it sends you successively to the three reporting agency sites.

For Transunion you need to get an account (i.e. choose username and password - it's free). They offer to show you your credit score for $7.95, or just the report for free. It then shows you your report which you may print.

At Experian, after entering the last four of my SSN, it told me:

We were unable to process your request. If you entered your credit card information, we did not charge you.

 
Sending us your information 
 
To receive your personal credit report by mail, please mail us this letter (or the information in it), along with one copy of a government issued identification card, such as a driver’s license, state ID card, military ID card, etc., and one copy of a utility bill, bank or insurance statement, etc.

Same for Equifax:

We're sorry, for your protection we are unable to deliver your FACT Act Equifax Free Annual Credit Report on the internet. There are a number of reasons that we may be unable to fulfill your request online. You may have a Security Freeze on your credit file, an Active Duty Military or Fraud Alert, or the identification information submitted online may not match the information on file.

For experian and equifax, it may be that the security freeze on my account (done to prevent identity theft) is what made them require that I do it by mail. Or, they may just figure I will decide it's not worth it (which is what I did).

This process took about 25 minutes.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

That probably IS your freeze in action.

Same results when I was getting my wifes report shortly after we got married. I was told that the name change increased the "possibly suspicious stuff going on, dont give out anything online" flag the credit agencies use to try to slow down identity fraud.

 

[dougdo]

Not having a huge asset base, I occasionally use my good credit score to make a few extra bucks. Right now for example a bank is giving me $50000 on a credit card at 1.99% for 9 months which is sitting in my savings account earning over 5%. Hey, it's like $125 free a month!