What you should do with this old credit card depends on your situation. If you have another credit card that is almost as old as the first one you may not take a very big hit to your credit score, if you take on at all. However, if your next oldest account is actually years younger then you are increasing your risk of decreasing your score. Closing your oldest revolving credit account will almost certainly affect your credit on some level.
What would a better solution be? Make use of the card. You see, lenders want to give credit to people who will use it, so the usage of credit also factors into your score. It is recommended that you take the oldest card out once a month and buy something with it: a tank of gas, a trip to the grocery store, or maybe just lunch. No matter how you do it, just use the card once, pay it off immediately, and then forget about it for 30 days. This will ensure that your account remains “active” and you can still use your more rewarding cards most of the time.
So, to answer the question we posed in the title of this article: no, it will not help your credit score to close down your oldest accounts. In fact, closing those old accounts could very well hurt your score based on the 15% contribution that length of credit history makes to your total score. With just a little planning and careful use, your old cards can remain useful and contribute to healthier credit.
You need a lot of self-control when using credit cards, once you have a good credit history ,every day applications will come through your letter box and you could easily have a wallet full of plastic with thousands of dollars of credit at your fingertips.
The plasma TV, vacation, bathroom renovation, etc which was once unattainable is there now for the taking. But you could be digging a big whole for yourself, you could lose financial flexibility due to the fact that your balance and financial charges leave you broke or even in the red every month.
Take action and reduce credit card debt. Take account of all your credit card bills, create an office spreadsheet or just write it all down on paper, for each card write down the minimum monthly payment then prioritize your repayments. Look closely at where all your money is going and try to make some sacrifices (maybe the daily morning cafe latte needs to go!). Use this money to help reduce credit card debt.
If you believe you may be overweight and may not qualify for individual or family health coverage, you can take a few precautions prior to submitting a health application. You should find a qualified health insurance broker who offers more than one carrier’s products and is knowledgeable about some of the underwriting requirements or is able to research the best plan for you. You can complete a prescreen application which will allow the broker to communicate with underwriters the issues prior to submitting the application and improve your chances of approval and avoid a potential decline.
A decline can really be detrimental to obtaining creditable coverage. You should also review the BMI tables while not all tables are the same this will give you an idea of how close or far you are from current healthy body mass index levels for your height. Lastly consider improving your health for your own benefit by starting some basic exercise like walking 30 minutes a day, educating yourself about nutritious foods, eliminating empty calories like sugar and saturated fats and creating a lifestyle that makes you feel good, makes you productive, make you look great, reverse some health problems altogether and extend your life and most of all affords you quality health insurance.
