A nice perk to being retired..Who cares about credit scores anymore !!

[ncbill]

From what I have heard, these bottom fishers often buy lists of people who owe money but the statute of limitations is past. However, if they can get you to make any payment, no matter how small, the clock starts again from the beginning. I am all for people paying their debts if at all possible, but beware being tricked into into doing something that will open you up to many more years of harassment.

Never discuss terms or payment over the phone.

With any debt collector the first thing is to demand written proof of debt.

And in my state their license number, since they can't legally collect debt here unless licensed.

I've never had any creditor claims go beyond that step, though to be fair I knew all the claims were bogus anyway.

 

[CoolRich59]

I recently had the usual stealth bogus medical charge , less than $1000, over a fully covered procedure from TWO years ago that some debt collector called me about. Of course I told them to stuff it where the sun doesn't shine , prove it ( which they claimed they didn't have to !!) etc... When it got to the threats about reporting me to the credit nazis I simply said I couldn't care less. It felt so good. Why should I care ?

I had a very similar experience. My doc had me get an MRI. The MRI provider didn't bother to get the pre-approval required by my insurance co and the insurance co refused to pay.

First the MRI provider tried to get me to pay and I told them to go pound sand. Then they turned it over to a collection agency and I told them to pound sand as well.

The collection agency warned me of the dire consequences to my credit score (cue ominous music). So what, I said. My score dropped below 800 for a couple of months. Yawn.

 

[NXR7]

Since I do not buy into the emotional mantra about having to have a paid off house in retirement I still have a significant mortgage of our property.

I have a friend who is a magistrate in the local county probate court. I told him that old joke:

You know your financial planning is great when the last check you ever write bounces.

He looked at me in disdain and told me I absolutely was wrong. He routinely handles cases where there are hundreds of thousands of debt at the time of death and no estate to pay for the debts. No estate = written off debt.

He said the companies that loan money, credit cards, banks, whatever, routinely increase other people's payments to create a reserve fund to handle such charged-off debts. He told me, half-jokingly, that I could have a much better life if I ran up a bunch of debt and then spent down assets.

When my parents were close to passing away the elder attorney we engaged warned us against assuming any of my parent's debt, even informally. He said I have absolutely no obligation to pay their debts (as long as I was not guardian, which I was not) and he routinely sees kids put themselves in financial holes by trying to help the parents out. He said it rarely ends up well and all that usually happens is the kids lose a bunch of assets and the old family homes still get repossessed.

Ray

 

[NXR7]

If you have college-age kids and they are not spendthrifts you can help their credit score by adding them as authorized users on the oldest credit card you have. Get the limit lowered if you need to beforehand.

I added my kids to my oldest card and they both ended up with credit scores in the low 800's within a year even though they only had one other credit card themselves and no loans. Their credit report showed a credit history longer than they were old.

Ray

 

[HI Bill]

True.
But, I am still trying to figure out how to get my FICO score above 817.
It is a game.

Your score is about what mine is, and it never eclipses 820. I have a moderate number of credit cards, but the lack of diversity in my credit usage (no revolving credit, no mortgage, no car loan) is a detriment to the score.

Credit scores, unfortunately, are a measure of how well you use credit, and don't actually look at your credit worthiness (e.g., ability to pay back/assets). They also don't give you credit for paying your bill in full each month. And if the balance on one card exceeds 30% of the credit limit (until the statement closes), you get dinged, even if you pay it off in full. The score system is rigged for those who need credit, and who are likely to fail, IMHO.

 

[steveark]

Mine stays at 815-820 and we have zero debt. Apparently just paying off credit cards in full every month is enough to get a high score. But it's fairly useless to us, no chance we'll ever borrow a single cent.

 

[HI Bill]

ALL agree 100% that the real key is the use of your FEET ! Couple of em say that the ONLY way to get the real bottom line is to WALK OUT a couple of times. They always have a few shekels available to lure a real buyer back and are trained to respond.

+1. When I went to buy an RX8, I presented my BAFO (best and final offer). The sales guy refused it. I was driving away, when he ran up to my car, and said that they'd take the price I offered. I went to lunch, and the bank to pick up a cashier's check. You're absolutely right.

 

[HFWR]

Mine is 800 something, which is great, but I don’t do anything special to achieve that score. My only debt is a mortgage, and whatever the one-month balance is on my two CCs.

 

[CoolRich59]

True.
But, I am still trying to figure out how to get my FICO score above 817.
It is a game.

My son texted me the other night from his in-laws. His F-I-L's FICO score is 850.

 

[rayvt]

In my experience the salesperson always asks about financing well before you get back to the office..."What kind of monthly payment are you looking for?"... "Are you approved for financing at your bank?"..."How many months do you want to finance?"

How do you answer those questions?

I always say, "Doesn't matter. I don't care about any of that stuff, I'm looking for the best price on the car I want. I'll talk about paying for the car after we've settled on the deal."

Clearly we are not the only buyers in this category. I think the salesmen ask this early on, to see which category of buyer you are.

 

[zippy2020]

Well........we just discovered we need a new foundation. I can take the $$$$ out of the portfolio and get socked with income taxes as well as higher Medicare premiums, OR,

We can re-mortgage the house. Which we intend on selling in the next two years anyway, and don't need to care about maximizing any profit from it. We have enough for our "old age" plus separate platinum-level LTCi policies through the state pension fund (which acts as an active advocate when you file a benefits claim).

Guess which one we'll pick...........)

 

[Old Microbiologist]

It is interesting looking at credit scores. Having moved to Europe they don't use this kind of thing at all. Most people play cash for everything and mortgages are a "new" idea not readily accepted by the people or the banks. The terms of a mortgage if you find one usually require a 50% down and a long personal history at your bank. Here in Hungary there are no car loans whatsoever and when you buy a new car it must be ordered and you pay up front in cash. We have lived here now for 10 years and the idea of credit scores never even occurred to me for a long time. We did get new Chase VISA cards (Amazon Prime and the Sapphire Card) so I am guessing our credit scores are fine. We only did that to get the cash back rewards and the travel insurance on the Sapphire card as in Europe there is no such thing for non-EU citizens living within the EU. We also can't get US travel insurance either as we don't live there so it is a Catch-22. So, this problem is solved with the Sapphire card. We spend over $100k a year on travel so Chase doesn't seem to mind We haven't had a mortgage or any debt whatsoever for the past 10 years but apparently that doesn't affect your credit scores enough.

 

[athena53]

And if the balance on one card exceeds 30% of the credit limit (until the statement closes), you get dinged, even if you pay it off in full. The score system is rigged for those who need credit, and who are likely to fail, IMHO.

Mine just dropped a bit below 800 and I suspect it's because the Costco Visa I got last September had a $10K credit limit. My December statement balance was $3,300, and the November balance was $4,400. I paid both in full- I'd made the final payments for an expensive trip to get the 4% back on travel. I've got a $20K limit on the Fidelity Visa.

No worries. In my experience, banks have tended to give me more credit than I wanted, anyway. I'm sure the limit on the Costco visa will be increased at some point without my asking, and I'm in no hurry.

 

[fh2000]

We spend over $100k a year on travel so Chase doesn't seem to mind

That is an impressive amount of travel budget.

Did you have to file any claims from Chase credit card? What is your experience for the claim process?

 

[rathail]

What does locking down your credit really impact?

Lots of good stuff here.

Gumby(post #5) noted issues with a low score but not about locking things down or is it the same thing?

What happens when you lock your credit down with a high rating I’m currently above 830 DW is close to the 800’s.
Can businesses see that you have a great score or do you need to unlock one or all reporting agencies?
Does locking down score affect getting good insurance rates?
Getting utilities if you move?

 

[meleana]

Your credit score affects the rates you get on things like your car insurance policy. Also, if you need to open a new account for a service such as a utility or internet company, for example.

 

[camfused]

One more example: I am about to buy a car. I was going to pay cash, but I am going to finance about $5000 of it, since I get a $500 rebate if I use their financing. I'll pay if off after the first month and make about $480. Gotta have decent credit rating to get the financing.

 

[CoolRich59]

Did you have to file any claims from Chase credit card? What is your experience for the claim process?

Not to hijack the thread, but we used our Chase Sapphire card to rent a car last Fall. We caught a rock in the windshield and the car rental company charged the card an add'l $200 for the damage. I submitted the claim to Chase and the $200 was deposited into my checking account 3 days later. I was pleasantly surprised.

 

[catii]

FICO at 801, without our doing anything at all to affect it. No need to buy anything on credit these days, but I laughed at the posters who walked/drove away from a stupid car lot.

We were buying our last car, & I walked in with a check for the amount I was willing to pay, & told the salesman I would leave in exactly 60 minutes, with or without the car. Turned on my stopwatch, too.

Sixty minutes later, they were still arguing, so we got up, & climbed in our car, telling them that since they wouldn't return my check, I was headed over to the police department to put in a grand theft complaint. Three of them literally ran after us, holding the car keys. I made them run for awhile, too!

 

[ponyboy]

Im 36, not retired, and ive never cared about my credit score...and its been hovering around 800 for years. I never take out loans, so it has no impact on me.

 

[NXR7]

Not to hijack the thread, but we used our Chase Sapphire card to rent a car last Fall. We caught a rock in the windshield and the car rental company charged the card an add'l $200 for the damage. I submitted the claim to Chase and the $200 was deposited into my checking account 3 days later. I was pleasantly surprised.

Agreed. Retirement usually requires enhanced risk management and cost control. The Sapphire, which I also have, is the only card I know of where they provide primary insurance on car rentals. So they pay first and not just after you've already filed an insurance claim with your own policy like just about every other card.

I find that more valuable than reward miles or cashback even though rental cars are not inexpensive.

Ray

 

[ziggy29]

Im 36, not retired, and ive never cared about my credit score...and its been hovering around 800 for years. I never take out loans, so it has no impact on me.

Once you get the score that high, just keeping some credit card accounts or other lines of credit open without activity will keep the score high. Though in the case of credit cards, just one $10 charge (paid off immediately) every few months can't hurt, and it may prevent the card issuer from canceling the account (hitting both your available credit *and* possibly average age of open accounts). Remember all the cancellations the banks issued to inactive accounts in the aftermath of the 2008-09 meltdown?

I personally use each of my open CC accounts to pay at least one small recurring bill or charitable donation, and autopay the balance in full from checking each month. That's all it takes to keep them open in most cases.

And I do use my CU's Visa card regularly, since if I make at least 10 transactions a month I get the savings rate on my checking account (currently 1.65%, was 2% three months ago -- thank you, War on Savers). Paid off in full each month, of course.

I don't intend to take out another loan or a new CC (the ones I use now have no fee and 1.5% cash back and that's good enough), but in case I do want to do it and in case my insurance rates are impacted by it, I do want to avoid having them slip too much (currently around 820, though in reality anything above 740-760 puts you in the top tier).

 

[Gumby]

New FICO methodology

FICO just announced an new credit score methodology, FICO 10. Apparently, it could result in changes to your score of 20 points in either direction.

https://www.yahoo.com/money/fico-credit-score-change-210252419.html

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Opened a New CC at local CR, Score went up to 825 Go Figure.

 

[camfused]

^^^^ Mine used to hover around 805. I upped the credit limit on two of my credit cards, and now it sits at 850 all the time.