My FICO Score

[retire48in2018]

I’m at the other end. Score of zero. Completely empty file. No reportable transactions for many years.

Occasionally, it makes things interesting when an entity tries to run my credit and/or identify me and cannot.

One time when we were opening a new bank account (moved) and they tried to talk about needing credit check for proving identity, using Patriot Act and all kinds of stories…I think they wanted to upsell a CC, HELOC or something.

They could not use their automated systems to do this and were very frustrated. We were amused. I mean we showed a passport, but they tried to say they needed a credit score A seasoned bank supervisor/executive took over and made the experience pleasurable providing their direct contact information.

It is also a slightly different relationship with insurance, and service providers (rental car, cell phone, utilities), etc - when they have to know you and intervene in their systems vs automatic. They will provide a more knowledgeable and personal contact (phone, email, etc) for us as the standard path won’t work. Having direct access is nice.

 

[pb4uski]

^^^ no idea why someone would take pride in having a zero FICO score... sounds a little neanderthal to me. Sorry. Of course, you do you but please don't encourage others.

 

[Texas Proud]

I’m at the other end. Score of zero. Completely empty file. No reportable transactions for many years.

Occasionally, it makes things interesting when an entity tries to run my credit and/or identify me and cannot.

One time when we were opening a new bank account (moved) and they tried to talk about needing credit check for proving identity, using Patriot Act and all kinds of stories…I think they wanted to upsell a CC, HELOC or something.

They could not use their automated systems to do this and were very frustrated. We were amused. I mean we showed a passport, but they tried to say they needed a credit score A seasoned bank supervisor/executive took over and made the experience pleasurable providing their direct contact information.

It is also a slightly different relationship with insurance, and service providers (rental car, cell phone, utilities), etc - when they have to know you and intervene in their systems vs automatic. They will provide a more knowledgeable and personal contact (phone, email, etc) for us as the standard path won’t work. Having direct access is nice.

So you are saying you have zero CCs, loans, mortgage? And that would be for many years as I just checked and saw a closed account from 2013 on my report...


I get a LOT of money from my CC purchases... I see no reason to NOT get this free money by paying for things that I want or need with a CC... just to not have a FICO score..

 

[Dtail]

Yeah, they look at the month-end balance. If it rises too much, your credit score goes down, even if you pay it off in full monthly. Either accept that, or do what I do, and make one or two extra payments per card per month to keep the ending balance low. 850/850 (FICO 8) and 890/900 regular FICO!

Or one can set the reporting date for the credit pull and thus can have a minor usage balance by setting the monthly payoff date close to that date.

 

[Car-Guy]

I don't get it (nor do I really care). About the only time I check my score is when these threads pop up. (So about once a month)

Just checked mine and it's 804.

I haven't had a loan in 25+ years, I have 4 credit cards I that pay off in full monthly, zero debt, several million in the bank(s), own my own house/cars, etc.

So how does someone get a CS of 850? Rhetorical, I don't care.

 

[cyber888]

I'm stuck at 830s .. I use credit cards to pay for most of my expenses for the 3% - 5% rebate and pay all balance at the end of the month.
I don't know how to get to 850.

 

[bada bing]

So how does someone get a CS of 850? Rhetorical, I don't care.

The formula that works is:
At least 8 years credit history with no late payments
3 or more credit card accounts open
1 or more installment loans open (mortgage, car, shared/secured, etc. )
No new credit applications in the last 2 years

and the important tweaks to timing/utilization:
The majority of credit card accounts report zero balance, but at least one must report a balance and the utilization must be no more than 10% of available credit, both overall and per account.

That will yield an 850 score. The FICO algorithm tops out at 850, but the components have more than 850 points total available, so there is a small amount of squish available for an 850 score, depending on other factors.

There is no requirement to pay interest and it's easily possible to garner an 850 score with no interest bearing debt. There also is no benefit from an 850 score over a 760/780 score. Loan underwriting lumps all scores above 780 in the top tier. The one small benefit to an ultra high score (830+) is it puts you in a tier that receives significantly less junk credit offers. The reason is the actions required for an ultra high score mark you as someone who is unlikely to apply for credit or be a profitable customer if you do. Those are all facts about credit scores that Dave Ramsey will never tell you.

 

[Dtail]

The formula that works is:
At least 8 years credit history with no late payments
3 or more credit card accounts open
1 or more installment loans open (mortgage, car, shared/secured, etc. )
No new credit applications in the last 2 years

and the important tweaks to timing/utilization:
The majority of credit card accounts report zero balance, but at least one must report a balance and the utilization must be no more than 10% of available credit, both overall and per account.

That will yield an 850 score. The FICO algorithm tops out at 850, but the components have more than 850 points total available, so there is a small amount of squish available for an 850 score, depending on other factors.

There is no requirement to pay interest and it's easily possible to garner an 850 score with no interest bearing debt. There also is no benefit from an 850 score over a 760/780 score. Loan underwriting lumps all scores above 780 in the top tier. The one small benefit to an ultra high score (830+) is it puts you in a tier that receives significantly less junk credit offers. The reason is the actions required for an ultra high score mark you as someone who is unlikely to apply for credit or be a profitable customer if you do. Those are all facts about credit scores that Dave Ramsey will never tell you.

So if one has 5 credit cards and each one has a balance of less than 10% utilization so by default the total utilization is less than 10%, then that works?

 

[LateToFIRE]

It may be the amount owed vs. available credit . . .

Maybe. It's really quite a mystery to me how I could borrow millions, have perfect repayment history for over 30 years, have a NW in the 98-99th percentile (depending on who's scale you're using), and yet my score is still always a bit under 800. Has not made any difference in borrowing costs - lenders always happy to give me the best rates. Just seems totally a**-backwards.

 

[Car-Guy]

The formula that works is:
At least 8 years credit history with no late payments
3 or more credit card accounts open
1 or more installment loans open (mortgage, car, shared/secured, etc. )
No new credit applications in the last 2 years

Then I'll never make it much higher than my low 800's I guess. It's been 25+ years since I've had 1 or more installment loans open (mortgage, car, shared/secured, etc. ) and I don't plan on having any. I pass all others factors with flying colors.

 

[Markola]

^^^^^^ Mine is also stuck in the high 700s or right at 800, depending on the card’s FICO Score utility. I went through Chase’s Credit Journey last night and the only action I can take is to not charge everything to credit cards, as we do.

We run everything we buy through cards and auto pay the balances each month, because of credit cards’ superior scam protection vs. debit cards. That means we always have $15,000 or so total balance across our cards, dinging us 13% of our FICO Score. Credit Journey says “You can pay down your balances.” Well, duh, we do every month automatically on every card.

 

[LateToFIRE]

^^^^^^ Mine is also stuck in the high 700s or right at 800, depending on the card’s FICO Score utility. I went through Chase’s Credit Journey last night and the only action I can take is to not charge everything to credit cards, as we do.

We run everything we buy through cards and auto pay the balances each month, because of credit cards’ superior scam protection vs. debit cards. That means we always have $15,000 or so total balance across our cards, dinging us 13% of our FICO Score. Credit Journey says “You can pay down your balances.” Well, duh, we do every month automatically on every card.

Hmmm, maybe my problem is the total amount we are putting thru credit cards, which is ~$15K per month. We're not maxing out our limits, we pay it off in full each month, but maybe the total simply counts against us, just because. Silly.

 

[Dtail]

Hmmm, maybe my problem is the total amount we are putting thru credit cards, which is ~$15K per month. We're not maxing out our limits, we pay it off in full each month, but maybe the total simply counts against us, just because. Silly.

Don't think so unto itself. For example you can set the record date of each card to the 3rd of the month and autopay the monthly balance on the first each month.
Thus you would only have 2 days of debt reported to the credit agencies.

 

[bada bing]

Then I'll never make it much higher than my low 800's I guess. It's been 25+ years since I've had 1 or more installment loans open (mortgage, car, shared/secured, etc. ) and I don't plan on having any. I pass all others factors with flying colors.

I mention this not for benefit of anyone here, but if you have children-grandchildren-nieces-nephews that need FICO score boosts: One of the tricks to increase a score is to open a shared-secured loan at a credit union. This is basically depositing money into a CD or high yield savings and then borrowing against it. The interest comes close to cancelling out. It counts on a credit report as a positive installment account. It really boosts a score that has no installment account history, but does very little if there is another installment account open.

Most of what I know about FICO scoring is the result of helping nieces and nephews get qualified for their first home purchases over the last 12 years.

 

[audreyh1]

Then I'll never make it much higher than my low 800's I guess. It's been 25+ years since I've had 1 or more installment loans open (mortgage, car, shared/secured, etc. ) and I don't plan on having any. I pass all others factors with flying colors.

Pretty much this is it and I’m not interested either.

 

[bada bing]

So if one has 5 credit cards and each one has a balance of less than 10% utilization so by default the total utilization is less than 10%, then that works?

The majority of credit card accounts need to report zero balance. But at least one card needs to have a balance or its a pretty big ding for all accounts reporting zero. I didn't make up these rules, I just report them.

You can use a credit card but still have it report zero by scheduling full payment to clear before the card's reporting date. Reporting date isn't necessarily payment due date or account month end. You have to find out when your cards report. You can look on your credit report or call the card provider, if interested. I'm not an advocate for effort to max a score except as a mental exercise. If you go to the effort to set it up by auto-pay, my experience is it will reliably work from then on. I haven't altered my auto-pay schedules in 10 years and my scoring is still working. I have 5 cards total and I've set 3 of them up to be paid off to zero balance a day before their respective reporting dates.

 

[retire48in2018]

So you are saying you have zero CCs, loans, mortgage? And that would be for many years as I just checked and saw a closed account from 2013 on my report...


I get a LOT of money from my CC purchases... I see no reason to NOT get this free money by paying for things that I want or need with a CC... just to not have a FICO score..

Correct. No debit for many years (CC, loan, mortgage, etc)

I don’t do it to say no score. Or any kind of bragging (or humble bragging) rights.

I did play the CC game early in my career. I understand what can be done, earned, etc.

We have chosen a simpler financial picture. No debts, no CC, etc.

Yes, we give up the 1, 2 or 3% CC. It’s not for this thread of pro and con - so I’ll skip putting that here. We are very content without having to play the credit score game.

It may not be for everyone, it works great for us and others that we are very familiar with.

 

[jazz4cash]

I don't get it (nor do I really care). About the only time I check my score is when these threads pop up. (So about once a month)

.

Even though I think the score is bogus I still monitor the number. If it drops suddenly that could indicate a problem. Likewise I’m glad one of my credit cards offers a free credit report so I can monitor the details including inquiries.

 

[youbet]

Even though I think the score is bogus.

But what the credit bureaus are concerned with is what their customers think. We're just the hapless victims, not paying customers.

 

[Sunset]

^^^^^^ Mine is also stuck in the high 700s or right at 800, depending on the card’s FICO Score utility. I went through Chase’s Credit Journey last night and the only action I can take is to not charge everything to credit cards, as we do.

We run everything we buy through cards and auto pay the balances each month, because of credit cards’ superior scam protection vs. debit cards. That means we always have $15,000 or so total balance across our cards, dinging us 13% of our FICO Score. Credit Journey says “You can pay down your balances.” Well, duh, we do every month automatically on every card.

Just pay your CC at the 2 week interval and on auto pay, there is no rule it can only be paid once per month. Then the utilization will be lower.
OR phone them and ask to have the credit limit raised.

Both will lower your utilization.

 

[jazz4cash]

Man, the two week payment interval
sounds interesting but right now I love the 30-60 day float @0% while the funds to pay are sitting in MM earning ~5%. I do really think the scoring is bogus but it is intriguing to see how close I can get to 850. Maybe I will go for credit line increases instead.

 

[LateToFIRE]

Just pay your CC at the 2 week interval and on auto pay, there is no rule it can only be paid once per month. Then the utilization will be lower.
OR phone them and ask to have the credit limit raised.

Both will lower your utilization.

Whuhhh? Over my dead body! They'll get their money at precisely the last possible millisecond it is due and not a zeptosecond sooner.

 

[Fermion]

We paid off everything and our credit score has dropped from 846 to 807.

I really should sign up for a bunch of credit before it drops more.

 

[LateToFIRE]

We paid off everything and our credit score has dropped from 846 to 807.

I really should sign up for a bunch of credit before it drops more.

That would make sense. You see by paying off everything you've proven that you don't really need credit, which is actually a huge risk... because if you don't need credit, you have no incentive to avoid a bad credit history. Because you don't even need to borrow. So, what's to keep you from borrowing up a storm and then just flat out stiffing the lenders.

See, if you were addicted to credit cards and installment loans and living beyond your means, your credit score would be important to you and you'd be real careful not to screw it up. I'm starting to really understand the logic now.

 

[garyt]

Last time I checked my credit score was 830. I froze my credit back when they had the big leak, what 5 years ago? Still frozen. Unless i buy a new house sometime in the future I doubt I'll need any credit, unless something catastrophic happens.