> "Chris Torek"
[...]
>> Having a higher limit on the credit cards (with less money out on
>>> it) improves the score.
>>
>> Just the opposite. CC's are good for initially establishing a good >> credit
>> history. But, having a lot of unsecured credit hurts your score. Credit
>> scorers look at 6 or 10 credit cards with credit limits of $5,000 each,
>> all with zero balances, as potential debt of $30,000 to $50,000 even
>> though you don't owe a penny.
>>
>> It is much better to keep only a couple cc's with reasonable credit >> limits.
>> Don't accept the cc companies' regular [usually annual] raising of the >> limits.
>>
>> I've had banks offer me cards with limits of $25,000 and still want to
>> raise the limit every year. Refuse these offers and maintain a saner >> credit limit.
>
> maybe not so.
> that brazen old hag, suze orman , is doing seminars telling people that > what
> matters alot in your FICO is your "credit in use" level --aka amount of > debt
> you have / credit available to you . something like 20-30% in use is
> considered ok, and gets lower scored as it rises.
My understanding is different. Maybe it matters what kind of credit it is: secured versus unsecured. Perhaps they treat asset backed debt differently.
this theory would portend that someone who has a too high 'use' level > should
> GET MORE CARDS !?.. and hence raise their available credit divisor ? >
> she also says History length is important-- therefore do NOT cancel old
> cards/accounts... for you truncate your credit history when you do.
That I do agree with. Length matters. Get rid of the newer cards rather than the older.