Did anybody here retire with no credit cards? How is it working out so far for you?

[carnivalday]

I have one credit card and use it for everything I buy. I havent touched a dollar bill in years. CC companies now give you the option to block your cards, so I keep mine blocked until I use it, then when Im done I block it back. I also pay it off as soon as I use it. I dont want to carry a balance.

 

[jimbee]

Did anybody here retire with no credit cards? How is it working out so far for you?

I am thinking about getting rid of my credit cards.

No, and I don't know why I wouldn't want to use credit cards.

 

[RobbieB]

I couldn't live w/o credit cards.

 

[jazz4cash]

If you pay off your CC balance each month, what's the purpose of cancelling your CC just to use a Debit Card? They are both just a plastic card and using them is almost identical.

Almost identical except one requires you to have cash in the bank at time of purchase and the other lets you freeload using OPM for a month or more. In the event unauthorized activity, the credit card generally offers more protection since you can object to the charge before the money comes out of your account.

 

[samclem]

In the event unauthorized activity, the credit card generally offers more protection since you can object to the charge before the money comes out of your account.

This is the biggie, IMO. For unauthorized charges or disputes with merchants, you have much better protection with a credit card.

 

[samclem]

Earlier, I would have just said I don't agree with many of his views, and it wouldn't be personal, but the more I was encouraged (on another forum) to look into him (by a fan), the more negative things I saw, and I finally came to the conclusion that I don't like him.

....but instead of the "teach a man to fish" approach, he just seems to keep treating everyone like a child. Some of his advice is downright hurtful to some.

I'm in the same boat. The basic message he's giving is one that a lot of folks need to hear, and accept. But his tone and attitude seem very unlikely to be as effective as a more empathetic approach. And his binary approach to some things (esp credit) may be a good road for people who just can't help themselves from overspending, but it is suboptimal for others.
I get the impression he's just impatient and tired of listening, he just wants to administer the bitter medicine from one of his standard bottles and take the next call.

 

[bobandsherry]

If you pay off your CC balance each month, what's the purpose of cancelling your CC just to use a Debit Card? They are both just a plastic card and using them is almost identical.

Agreed, and there's actually better financial protection by using credit card vs. debit card in case someone got a hold of your debit card or cloned it.

 

[papaof2]

Been retired since 1998. Use a cashback CC for almost everything to get the $$ it pays me.

Online, I use CC for known vendors and PayPal for those I don't know (mostly offshore) so I don't get a call from the CC bank about "Did you make a charge at <wherever>?"

I can say that CitiBank's fraud watch is on top of the charges I make. Paid for hosting of two web sites - two separate transactions to the same company in 3 minutes online - and got a phone call and a text to verify the second charge was valid and not someone at the vendor end scamming extra $$.

 

[Hermit]

Not a single response from someone that does not have any credit cards?

Not me, but a fellow hermit up here in the mountains. He is forceably FIREd on medical SS and in his fourties. His finances are very limited and his bank manages his account for him. When there is money in the account he spends it. When there is no money he doesn't spent it. I have convinced him to keep a good stock of staples on hand like rice, beans and flour for times when he runs out of money. He does have a debit card that he uses on Amizon and Walmart on line. If he over spends on line, the transaction does not go through and then he can check his account. It works pretty good for him most of the time. Last week the bank gave him $300 erroneously of which he spent about half. They then took it back and charged him $35 for being overdrawn. He is on a first name basis with the branch manager and they got it straightened out, but I think he will owe the bank some out of his next SS check. For him, a credit card is down right scary.

 

[RobbieB]

No doubt.

 

[Old Microbiologist]

As mentioned by others we take advantage of CC and pay zero percent interest and get plenty of perks. Living outside the US makes cards somewhat difficult and require you to maintain a "permanent" US address. In Europe pretty much all CC are actually debit cards and actual credit cards are not something handed out as in the US. Thus, we have our European debit card for local use, and American CC for larger purchases and we also got the Chase Sapphire for travel as it comes with $20k travel insurance. We cannot purchase American travel insurance living outside the US and also cannot purchase European travel insurance as we are not EU citizens so we are caught in between. The Sapphire card provides that extra security for trip insurance. All are linked to Samsung and Ali Pay for digital payments.

 

[marion10]

We pay ours off every month and do some travel hacking as well-although I am thinking about switching to a cash back card. The extended warranty coverage is why I put all large purchases on a credit card. Our dryer with a one year warranty broke on day 368 of use. Since the credit card doubled the warranty- our cost for repairs- nothing. My husband is a baseball fan and we treat ourselves to premium tickets once a year with credit card point- this year it was skybox seats- something we would never have access to. We haven’t carried a balance in years. When we were first married, we deducted any credit purchase we made right from the checkbook- so we never had a bill we needed to pay.

 

[ERD50]

Has our OP learned anything?

One question with no context, and one short reply that didn't tell us much either.

I am thinking about getting rid of my credit cards.

Maybe they are a Dave Ramsey fan.

You guessed it.

Maybe change the screen name to FANOFFEWWORDS?

-ERD50

 

[GTFan]

I've made tens of thousands just in the last 5 years or so from CC rewards, so there's no way I'd ditch them. Not to mention all the good perks you get by using CCs, main one being fraud protection.

 

[UnrealizedPotential]

Has our OP learned anything?

One question with no context, and one short reply that didn't tell us much either.








Maybe change the screen name to FANOFFEWWORDS?

-ERD50

I strongly suspect OP already had their mind made up that credit cards are something that is bad and was only looking for posters who agreed and wanted confirmation. That confirmation never really happened. No judgment either way from me on OP, but that's how I see it.

 

[Oz investor]

i am probably the last person to ask ( but i will answer antway )

i didn't actually retire on the date planned ( i had to go early )

i am not a fan of credit cards ( nor reward points )

i see it as one less thing that can cause stress if the credit market tightens ( or freezes ) , and i don't have to worry about fraudulent transactions on them either

 

[FANOFJESUS]

OP here. After reading most of the replies I will be using one credit card to keep it simple. I will retire my debit card.

 

[scrabbler1]

OP here. After reading most of the replies I will be using one credit card to keep it simple. I will retire my debit card.

I use one credit card, too, to keep it simple. I have a back-up credit card I don't carry with me but use once a year (automatic purchase) so the account stays active without having to do anything. I carry my debit/ATM card with me and it serves 2 purposes: At the bank to get cash and it serves as a back-up card in case something goes wrong with my credit card. I haven't actually used my debit card for a POS transaction in at least 10 years.

I see this as carrying around with me as little as possible while giving me the highest level of comfort, convenience, and back-ups while minimizing risk.

 

[Markola]

Maybe they are a Dave Ramsey fan.

As others have mentioned, not everyone here, nor everyone’s spouse, came out of the womb hacking cell phone plans and investing in index funds. Personal finance is a learning process. We saved aggressively for years in our 403b before realizing we had some short term credit card sloppiness to deal with. We went through a period of several years cold turkey with just debit cards and life worked fine. You want to rent a car? Use a third party site like Hotwire. Our credit scores remained stellar: 825 FICO today. After we broke the CC habit, we picked up Delta Platinum Amex cards. Those plus debit cards suit us fine. So, we are proof that it’s not “absolutely crazy!!!” (see above) to avoid using credit cards.

 

[MichaelB]

OP here. After reading most of the replies I will be using one credit card to keep it simple. I will retire my debit card.

Sounds like a reasonable option. I don’t like debit cards, consumer protections aren’t as rigorous.

As for cards, we would need at least two. Following the advice and example of others here (such as audreyh1 and Alan) we have a card dedicated to autopay that is not used for any other purpose and never leaves the desk drawer. This reduces the likelihood it will be hacked, which saves us the real hassle of setting up all the autopsy accounts time and again.

 

[steelyman]

This reduces the likelihood it will be hacked, which saves us the real hassle of setting up all the autopsy accounts time and again.

Is there something you forgot to mention?

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

I have two right now; our primary card that gets 1.5% cash back on everything, and a Chase Amazon Visa, that we use at Amazon and Whole Foods (5%), restaurants, gas stations, and pharmacies (2%), and that's it. We had the Blue Preferred AmEx, with 6% back on the first $6K of groceries (which is the only thing we used it for, and then stopped when we hit the limit), but as I've said before they were a PITA, and I figured out that it was only an extra $180 a year after the annual fee, so we (my partner didn't like having to remember three different groups of spending categories) decided to cancel that one. Two gives us a backup when a card gets compromised and replaced.

 

[ERD50]

OP here. After reading most of the replies I will be using one credit card to keep it simple. I will retire my debit card.

Thanks for the update. But why were you thinking of getting rid of them in the first place? As mentioned, the "why" has a lot to do with the answers.

It's like asking "Should I buy a pick-up truck?". Well, the answer is all about the "why are you considering a pick-up truck"?

On another forum, a wise, well respected poster had a sig line: "A question well stated, is often already answered".

-ERD50

 

[FANOFJESUS]

Thanks for the update. But why were you thinking of getting rid of them in the first place? As mentioned, the "why" has a lot to do with the answers.

It's like asking "Should I buy a pick-up truck?". Well, the answer is all about the "why are you considering a pick-up truck"?

On another forum, a wise, well respected poster had a sig line: "A question well stated, is often already answered".

-ERD50

I am a big Dave Ramsey fan. I liked the idea of using my money rather than the banks for everything. After getting advice for you all I see that way was risky so I went the credit card way.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

I am a big Dave Ramsey fan. I liked the idea of using my money rather than the banks for everything. After getting advice for you all I see that way was risky so I went the credit card way.

IMO Dave Ramsey is mostly talking to the people who have little or no fiscal discipline. And there's nothing wrong with that, some people have addiction or impulse control issues that are biochemical, genetic, or maybe a result of a complicated upbringing, and if they are listening to him, they are trying to do better. But I think most of the people here on this forum don't need much help being disciplined with their money, which is why the majority opinion seems to be that credit cards are a better deal...IF you make sure you have the cash to pay them off every month.