The White Whales - Perfect Credit Scores?

[Venturer]

Made me look, I knew my credit score was good but hadn't really looke in a long time it shows mine being a low of 849 to a high of 860 in the last 6 months,with a current score of 856 so I'm still good.

 

[Toast]

Both DH and I have scores of 850. Just for fun, we took screenshots to document it.

 

[HenryD]

DW and I are endlessly competitive on credit scores just for fun. When MegaBank started showing mine as 850, and hers as a few points less it annoyed her to no end. Especially since she was employed at MegaBank at the time, lol.

 

[athena53]

Wow. Mine is 797. It's almost always been over 800. I rarely look at it and I do know that right now my balance is high because of over $11,000 in one-shot charges for travel and window replacements. Will pay that off in full when billed. I have a small mortgage balance ($54,000), 3 credit cards, only one of them recently taken out, and no late payments. In my case it barely matters; I don't think my insurance is based on credit score (some states forbid it) and have no plans to take out any loans.

And this is why I try not to go crazy over fluctuations. Apparently you get dinged if you use too much of your credit line and you get dinged if you have too much open credit.

My Ex had TERRIBLE credit. I was always amused at how many more unsolicited credit card offers he got in the mail and how big the potential credit lines were. I'm sure the interest rates and other terms were pretty scary.

 

[target2019]

I think I've crested at 820. Hers is 842. That's on the 850 scale.

 

[mystang52]

Great title for this thread! Like many others here, I haven't had a mortgage or a loan in many years. My score is usually 830 or so. What I find humorous is that once, after a long vacation and coincidental other large purchases put on my credit card, my score plummeted to 795. They sure ding you quickly, but getting to 850 would definitely be my white whale if I gave a hoot.

 

[Out of Steam]

Never really tried to be "perfect" but when I check, mine is usually around 805 to 810.

That about has where mine has been for years and years. Probably don't have the income, or the use of credit, for it to be higher. My wife's is similar.

 

[Car-Guy]

So I looked again this morning and mine is 805... They have a section on their web site that talks about how to improved your credit score and they even have a simulator (think FireCal). So I read the info on how to improve a score. I already do all that and you can't get any better.

Then I played with the simulator. The first thing I did was add a other 25k in my borrowing power which was one of their options... Yep, my score when up another 12 points. So it seems one factor is the % of credit card debt you have vs what is available to use. "Forget that you pay it off in full each month". So I have 3 CC's with a aggregate buying power of about 40k. That's more than I need/want on a monthly basis and I have always turn down offers to increase it. However, looks like if I bump it up 20 to 30k my score will go up.
​

 

[COcheesehead]

Great title for this thread! Like many others here, I haven't had a mortgage or a loan in many years. My score is usually 830 or so. What I find humorous is that once, after a long vacation and coincidental other large purchases put on my credit card, my score plummeted to 795. They sure ding you quickly, but getting to 850 would definitely be my white whale if I gave a hoot.

It’s credit usage. As soon as you paid off the card, it probably popped back up within the month.

 

[Gumby]

I don't think people on this board use credit cards the way most people do. I put all my regular spending on one credit card because it is convenient and because I get the airline miles from paying that way. I never carry a balance or pay interest; no matter how much I have put on the card that month (such as payment for a tour of Egypt), I have always paid in full. To me, it's not really debt, it's just a form of payment and I would be just fine without it. But the guys who have to figure out credit risk apparently have no institutional memory about how I and people like me actually view and use our credit cards.

 

[COcheesehead]

So I looked again this morning and mine is 805... They have a section on their web site that talks about how to improved your credit score and they even have a simulator (think FireCal). So I read the info on how to improve a score. I already do all that and you can't get any better.

Then I played with the simulator. The first thing I did was add a other 25k in my borrowing power which was one of their options... Yep, my score when up another 12 points. So it seems one factor is the % of credit card debt you have vs what is available to use. "Forget that you pay it off in full each month". So I have 3 CC's with a aggregate buying power of about 40k. That's more than I need/want on a monthly basis and I have always turn down offers to increase it. However, looks like if I bump it up 20 to 30k my score will go up.
​

Yep, just ask your credit card to increase your limit and your score will go up.

 

[Car-Guy]

^^^^^
Yep, but I'm not going to do that. (Don't care)

 

[Andre1969]

And this is why I try not to go crazy over fluctuations. Apparently you get dinged if you use too much of your credit line and you get dinged if you have too much open credit.

I don't know about too much open credit, but one little anomaly, is that I'll sometimes get dinged for having a somewhat high balance on one card, even if my overall utilization is very low.

For instance, if I have a $3K balance on a card with a $10K limit, but have a bunch of other cards with no balance and my total limit is $100K, my overall utilization is only 3%. But if I had $1K each on three separate cards, it wouldn't ding me quite as much. They're more worried about that 30% utilization on the one single card (30%) rather than the overall.

Back in 2016, I got a credit card that gave you zero percent for something like 9-10 months, perhaps more even. I ran that one up, making only the minimum payments per month, and then paid it in full just before the promotional period ended. I came out ahead here, because I was able to keep that money invested, and it grew. But, if the market had gone south in that timeframe, it would have bit me on the butt.

Now that you can get 4-5% in a CD or even an MMA, you might make a bit doing something like that again, but back in 2016, they weren't paying that much, so more of my money was in stocks and mutual funds, taking a bit more of a chance.

 

[Car-Guy]

I don't think people on this board use credit cards the way most people do. I put all my regular spending on one credit card because it is convenient and because I get the airline miles from paying that way. I never carry a balance or pay interest; no matter how much I have put on the card that month (such as payment for a tour of Egypt), I have always paid in full. To me, it's not really debt, it's just a form of payment and I would be just fine without it. But the guys who have to figure out credit risk apparently have no institutional memory about how I and people like me actually view and use our credit cards.

+1 (Except I like the cash back rather than miles)

 

[TheWizard]

Having a perfect or nearly perfect 850 credit score doesn't get you a free toaster or anything.
You don't even get a gold star to wear on your blazer.

I'm another one who pays off CC balances twice a month and has no other consumer loans anymore, so I'm poifectly content with where I am...

 

[Car-Guy]

Interesting, info on CC's. "Just now on Fox Business" they were talking about CC debt. They said 46% of folks don't pay off their CC's in full each month and 36% say their CC debt is greater than their total savings. I guess I thought both of those would be higher.

 

[COcheesehead]

Something to consider these days. I used to pay my credit card off the day after the billing period closed. With money markets paying what they are now, I calculated that I can make another $158 a year paying it a day or two before it’s due instead without any real ramifications.

 

[athena53]

So I looked again this morning and mine is 805... They have a section on their web site that talks about how to improved your credit score and they even have a simulator (think FireCal). So I read the info on how to improve a score. I already do all that and you can't get any better.

Then I played with the simulator. The first thing I did was add a other 25k in my borrowing power which was one of their options... Yep, my score went up another 12 points. So it seems one factor is the % of credit card debt you have vs what is available to use. "Forget that you pay it off in full each month". So I have 3 CC's with a aggregate buying power of about 40k. That's more than I need/want on a monthly basis and I have always turn down offers to increase it. However, looks like if I bump it up 20 to 30k my score will go up.
​

This is useful information. Right now I have 3 credit cards with a total credit limit of $76,000. About half of that is an Amex I just got a few months ago. I want to apply for an American Airlines MasterCard for the sign-on bonus and am concerned that I may not qualify. I'm considering asking to have my Amex limit reduced first.

 

[Car-Guy]

Something to consider these days. I used to pay my credit card off the day after the billing period closed. With money markets paying what they are now, I calculated that I can make another $158 a year paying it a day or two before it’s due instead without any real ramifications.

I've been using the payment scheduler feature on my cards. I usually schedule payments a few days before they are due. (Why let them have the money too soon. Just like paying the IRS, now that I'm retired, I pay the "bulk" of my taxes "for the current tax year" in late December.

 

[wrigley]

Always 820+. Wife's is higher, not sure how? All I know is if I ever need to borrow money, I can pretty much get anywhere I like.

Mike

 

[GravitySucks]

Had a perfect credit score for 4 years.
But my idea of a perfect score is zero interest paid. Interest on the HELOC is less than the tax bump to pay it off in full, next will be a car loan so it’s going to be awhile to get back to zero.
FICO is somewhere around 840. The only time it seemed to make a big difference was buying a 2010 Hyundai in 2011 and I was offered 0% financing plus an extra $500 bonus for financing via Hyundai Credit. I asked the dealer what the catch was and he said it’s was no one with a credit rating over 750 wanted an old style Elantra.

 

[Jerry1]

When I read the above comments and look at my own situation, it just confirms how silly the credit score is. Mine is about 830. Like many here, I've never missed or been late on a payment. I pay off my credit cards every month. I have a couple accounts that are over 40 years old. For example, DW and I have been with the same credit union since we got married. Same with AAA and we've been with Sprint (now T-Mobile) since our first mobile phone. If that doesn't generate a perfect score, I don't know what does. Thankfully, like has been mentioned, it doesn't matter and I don't focus on it. My score is high enough to not have it hurt me on things like insurance rates and I can get a loan at the best rates without any issues.

We just took a loan out for a car (36 months at 3.1%). We'll pay it off early, but it will help me manage my taxes. We sit down with the sales person and he said of our score - "I've never seen one this high before."

 

[MarieIG]

This is useful information. Right now I have 3 credit cards with a total of $76,000. About half of that is an Amex I just got a few months ago. I want to apply for an American Airlines MasterCard for the sign-on bonus and am concerned that I may not qualify. I'm considering asking to have my Amex limit reduced first.

A reduction in available credit may not help. Keeping the balances paid off for a month or so before you apply may . . .

 

[athena53]

A reduction in available credit may not help. Keeping the balances paid off for a month or so before you apply may . . .

Thanks. I tried to reduce my Amex limit on-line but the "credit line increase request" screen doesn't accept negative numbers! I'll be paying in full later this month and shouldn't have any more colossal charges.

 

[Sojourner]

I don't think people on this board use credit cards the way most people do. I put all my regular spending on one credit card because it is convenient and because I get the airline miles from paying that way. I never carry a balance or pay interest; no matter how much I have put on the card that month (such as payment for a tour of Egypt), I have always paid in full. To me, it's not really debt, it's just a form of payment and I would be just fine without it. But the guys who have to figure out credit risk apparently have no institutional memory about how I and people like me actually view and use our credit cards.

+1

This thread made me look at my credit score, which I only check once or twice a year usually. Seeing that it's 815 is sort of a non-event for me. I can't recall it ever being higher than that or much lower than that, and I don't see any reason to care about its precise value more than I already do.