People often ask me questions that I feel might be helpful for others to see as well. Here's one I received recently.
"In terms of our credit rating, would you say we are better off having more credit cards with zero balance and lots of capacity or having fewer cards?"
Credit reports....gotta love the mystery! Here's the answer.....It depends! It depends on how long you've had the cards, how much of a credit balance you carry (or if you carry a balance), the credit usage (the amount you card vs. your limit...ie how close you get to your limit) and how many cards you have! That really helps huh! ;)
Typically if you've had a credit card for a LONG time, it's best not to close it because this will actually drop your score. But if you have 30 cards even with zero ....that's not the best for credit ratings either! You typically want to have a few cards and keep low balances on your cards and not get near the maxed out amount (which also has a negative impact on your credit score).
For a great credit report learning tool, go to Brightscore.com. It's worth the money to learn about how credit reports work and the best way to improve your credit.
