Credit Card Solution

A new study from credit analytics company SubscriberWise revealed that less than two tenths of one percent of the scorable population achieved the highest possible Fico score.

So just who are these consumers with 850 Fico scores anyways?

Well, the company found that the median age of these credit-elites was 61, having a birth year all the way back in 1950.

The oldest person to achieve credit score-perfection was born in 1922, while the youngest was born in 1967.

In other words, it takes a while to achieve a perfect credit score, even if you’re doing everything right.

(See my credit score range.)

This probably has to due with the fact that credit scoring takes into account the length of a consumer’s credit history, including the age of their oldest account on their credit report, whether it’s opened or closed.

So you really need to build your credit history early on to ensure you have excellent credit in the future.

Simply paying bills on time, keeping balances low, and applying for new credit sparingly won’t be enough for that perfection you seek.

Some gray hairs also seem to be a necessity…

For the record, the SubscriberWise study was based on data from a quarter of a million credit reports, so it seems pretty thorough.

Tip: How to raise your credit score.

(photo: Bruce Berrien)

Those who have good credit often receive a variety of credit cards in the mail, which are already approved and ready to be used. Companies send these out to customers who they know are a very low credit risk, in the hope that they will start using them. The cards can be activated after receiving them, which allows them to then be used by the consumer, up to the pre-set credit limit that comes with the card, as long as the cardholder has agreed to the contract, verified their identity and set up their pin number with the credit card company.

The question is, however, should consumers activate new cards which they receive in the mail. Many people do activate nearly every card that they receive, and there are advantages and disadvantages on both sides.

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People often consider closing their credit card accounts when they have moved onto a new card, or when they owe money to the credit card company. This is not, however, generally advisable because the information on a credit report will remain for at least seven years. This means that people gain nothing by closing their credit card accounts when they are in debt, and in fact, end up actually dinging their credit score even worse.

One reason for not cancelling a bad credit history is present is that the good credit history that a person has built up may disappear, whereas keeping a card open and active ensures that the credit card company continues to report. When an account is closed the information drops off the credit report after seven years’ time, from the date of the last reported activity. That means that if a person closes their account, eventually the credit history will disappear from that particular credit card. I

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