FI = low FICO score

[eta2020]

I just noticed that after 2 decades of having no loans, no mortgage and investable assets in 7 digits I ended up with pitiful FICO of 660

It seems FI leads to bad credit. Do you have similar experience?

Though I am getting ton of Credit Card offers.

 

[braumeister]

Not here. It's always been over 800.
Maybe you should take them up on a few of those credit card offers?

 

[sengsational]

I've got a bunch of well-used credit cards, but of course paid off in full every month, and a small mortgage....over 800.

 

[RobbieB]

No loans for 3 decades, no mortgage for 1 decade, no job for over 2 years and 7 figure investments.

Credit score over 800. Dunno.

 

[razztazz]

Discernible net worth way less than 7 figures. One mortgage back in the 80s, never a single non-mortgage loan of any kind. Retired 20 years 4 months. FICO score hovers between 805 and 835.

I do use credit card regularly but as mentioned above, I pay them off immediately, in full. The notes that they used to put on the back of the FICO paperwork would tell me the reason for not being higher was.... I don't charge enough!

 

[pb4uski]

I just noticed that after 2 decades of having no loans, no mortgage and investable assets in 7 digits I ended up with pitiful FICO of 660

It seems FI leads to bad credit. Do you have similar experience?

Though I am getting ton of Credit Card offers.

Not at all, 830 according to Discover... but we regularly use credit cards (auto-pay every month) and have a mortgage and have a couple auto loans (one 1.99% on autopay and another higher rate that will be paid off in a few months but we got a much better deal on the car).

Have you pulled your credit reports to see what in there might be dragging it down?

 

[ivinsfan]

I might dig a little deeper on this if I were you.That low of a score might impact your insurance costs and a few other things. Is there a mistake on your record. Otherwise get some CC and start using them.

 

[scrabbler1]

I have been between 805 and 820, usually closer to 820, except for a one-month little dip back in the spring.

 

[Aerides]

I'm stuck around 780 in a similar position as OP (use 2 credit cards, no debts, no mortgage in over 10 years). But below 700? I'd want to get some detailed reports as that indicates actual problems.

 

[Mo Money]

Well into the 800s for me. I have several credit cards, one which I use regularly for everything (double points!). I pay it off every month. The other cards I "exercise" about twice a year for small purchases, just to keep those accounts open. I do this so I have some credit activity to bolster my score. I have no mortgage, car payment or other loans, so I need those cards to buoy up my credit rating.

 

[Cobra9777]

I've been retired 3 years and FICO is still 800-820. Mortgage was paid off in 2013. Last car loan was paid off in 2004. We use 2 cash-back credit cards regularly and pay them off in full every month. Two other cards in the sock drawer. As others suggest, I'd pull the details and figure out what's driving the 660.

 

[jazz4cash]

I haven't seen my credit report for awhile and I wonder if PayPal is listed since I'm using it more and more these days to get 0% for 6 mos. And I do still believe FICO is a scam.


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[Bamaman]

Most of you folks have incredible FICO scores--signaling high character and a true capacity to pay your obligations.

I'm a chronic 796 FICO, with no debts carried forward month to month. We just use credit cards for Amazon purchases and insurance premiums on 4 houses, 5 cars, 2 boats and a RV.

My wife has one of the highest FICO scores anyone ever seen--and she's not worked for 17 years--with only Social Security income. Go figure.

 

[Mulligan]

Most of you folks have incredible FICO scores--signaling high character and a true capacity to pay your obligations.

I'm a chronic 796 FICO, with no debts carried forward month to month. We just use credit cards for Amazon purchases and insurance premiums on 4 houses, 5 cars, 2 boats and a RV.

My wife has one of the highest FICO scores anyone ever seen--and she's not worked for 17 years--with only Social Security income. Go figure.

You would have to study it like a college final to figure out the goofy reasons the scores take a hit... Just having $5k debt on one credit card and zero on the other 3 will lower your score more than having the money spread out over the 4. It is still 5k debt, no matter how its sliced... Whatever, I have it loaded it up on one, and I dont care. Deduct 20 points and put my nose in the corner, Mr. FICO, I can take it.


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[RobbieB]

I could care less what my FICO is, never asked and never wanted to know.

I only know because Discover sends it to me every month with my bill.

 

[FireFool]

A key thing people need to understand related to credit scoring is the data that it's based upon. Once an account has been closed without activity for 7 years it drops off the credit report and therefore is not part of scoring (whether it was good or bad behavior). The FICO scoring algorithm is proprietary and I don't have specific knowledge of it, but while employed I was involved in the details of other credit scores. Key negatives are having any bankruptcy, judgment, lien or foreclosures. Having 30, 60, 90 or 120+ day late pays are also negatives. Another factor is credit utilization - the percentage of your available credit that you use. If you charge $900 per month but only have a credit limit of $1.000 you will look pretty bad with a 90% utilization rate, regardless of the fact that you always pay it in full each month. Ways to improve this are to ask for your credit line to be increased, which won't be a problem if you always are paying your bills on time. You should also be selective in closing any accounts. Just because you aren't using a card doesn't mean you should request it be closed (exception being if there's an annual fee to keep it). You also want to pay particular attention to your oldest trade line, as that determines the length of credit history variable used in most scores. This variable is fully dependent on the trade still being on your credit report. Once an account has been closed for 7 years it drops off. Because my mortgage was paid off 15 years ago there's absolutely no record of any mortgage trades (and there's no magic way FICO can know I own my house outright). Likewise my very first credit card (Sohio Gas) has long ago fallen off my report. This is all fine though because I have other trades that have been around greater than 10 years which is generally enough for top scores for that variable. I personally wouldn't pay an annual fee to keep a credit card around even if it was my oldest, but if it's my oldest and there's no fee I'll definitely make certain there's at least some infrequent activity on the account that the issuer will continue to keep it open. You also need to be selective in applying for credit. If you're applying willy-nilly for credit the credit report "hard" inquiries also will pull down your score (churners beware). "Soft" inquiries, like are done for insurance scoring or direct mail campaigns will not impact your score. These are just some highlights.

 

[truenorth418]

My scores are higher than ever. There are so many variables. Unfortunately one does not seem to get extra points for not needing credit anymore.


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[Sunset]

I just noticed that after 2 decades of having no loans, no mortgage and investable assets in 7 digits I ended up with pitiful FICO of 660

It seems FI leads to bad credit. Do you have similar experience?

Though I am getting ton of Credit Card offers.

Nope, Score at about 800.

no loans, no mortgage. I use CC but I pay them off in full and completely every month, usually about every 2 weeks as I don't want to miss paying them.

There may be a mistake on your credit report.
Or you were late making some payments ?

 

[bingybear]

paid off my last installment loan (mortgage) back in '93. Fico >800. (FIREd in 2015)
Use your credit cards and pay them off every month.
Don't use much of your credit during the month. The higher % used will ding the FICO score.
Never miss a payment.
Lowering the amount of credit available (in $) will hurt the score.

during my last year of work I bought many work supplies for the start up I was employed by... a bunch of millimeter wave equipment. I paid it off at the end of the billing cycle, but my FICO score took a detour south for a while. It recovered nicely.. but took a while.

 

[eta2020]

Well I tried to get: https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action

TransUnion shows long history of single credit card.

Equifax asks me questions about nonexistent loans and then denies showing my report. Allegedly this is common practice so you are forced to pay them for report.

My credit card reports it for free. So I see Equifax giving me 660 score. I think having single card and buying cars or anything large in Cash means I am a credit risk

 

[mpeirce]

Well I tried to get: https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action

TransUnion shows long history of single credit card.

Equifax asks me questions about nonexistent loans and then denies showing my report. Allegedly this is common practice so you are forced to pay them for report.

I ran my annual credit report about about a week ago and had a similar problem. I was able to answer the questions from Experian and TransUnion and received their reports.

I decided two out of three was sufficient.

 

[ivinsfan]

Well I tried to get: https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action

TransUnion shows long history of single credit card.

Equifax asks me questions about nonexistent loans and then denies showing my report. Allegedly this is common practice so you are forced to pay them for report.

My credit card reports it for free. So I see Equifax giving me 660 score.

I might pay because of your non existent loan comment. My sis-in-law and I share the same first and last name..not a common surname and do not live the same town. She was applying for a Target card and got turned down because they said she had 2 many open credit lines like 20. And it was Equifax I believe. She knew that was wrong, checked into and found out they had put hers and mine both in her name. The part that really ticked me off what they told her to go line by line and eliminate the ones that were not hers instead of freezing it and doing it themselves. She had access to all my account numbers and info. of course it wasn't a problem but it could have if she wasn't family.

 

[sengsational]

Well I tried to get: https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action

TransUnion shows long history of single credit card.

Equifax asks me questions about nonexistent loans and then denies showing my report. Allegedly this is common practice so you are forced to pay them for report.

My credit card reports it for free. So I see Equifax giving me 660 score. I think having single card and buying cars or anything large in Cash means I am a credit risk

I ran my annual credit report about about a week ago and had a similar problem. I was able to answer the questions from Experian and TransUnion and received their reports.

I decided two out of three was sufficient.

You can do a paper one. It's trivial. You just send in a form with a copy of your drivers license and a copy of a utility bill.

I don't think it's all that horrifically scamified...they are simply trying to decide "if it's you". Those loans you don't recognize when it's trying to see "if it's you"...I'd bet those are NOT your loans, and they AREN'T paid-up regularly.

Once you get your report on paper, there are instructions for how to challenge the junk on the report. I'd do it...you'll at least get a better rate on your homeowner's insurance.

 

[Llep]

I haven't worked in 14 months. When I quit my score ran between 835 and 843. I moved and had a few credit reports run for an apartment and utilities and was crushed when that caused it to drop to 819! It has floated between the 820s and 830s since. For the last 15 years the only credit accounts I have had are 3 credit cards that are paid off every month and my newest of the 3 accounts was opened in 1990!


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[eta2020]

You can do a paper one. It's trivial. You just send in a form with a copy of your drivers license and a copy of a utility bill.

I don't think it's all that horrifically scamified...they are simply trying to decide "if it's you". Those loans you don't recognize when it's trying to see "if it's you"...I'd bet those are NOT your loans, and they AREN'T paid-up regularly.

Once you get your report on paper, there are instructions for how to challenge the junk on the report. I'd do it...you'll at least get a better rate on your homeowner's insurance.

No in my state they are not allowed to take FICO into consideration for Insurance Rate.

But I will be requesting my report via US Mail.