Friend told me to close old credit cards to 'clean up' my report and my score dropped 40 points

4 comments

4 Comments

Oh man, that's a rough lesson. Your friend meant well but credit history length makes up a big chunk of your score and closing old accounts chops off years of that positive history.

ryan_hart381d ago

Can you just leave them open but lock the cards in a drawer instead?

luna2611d ago

Oh man! My buddy Jack did the exact same thing last year. He had this old Target store card from college he barely used and a Capital One he'd had for like 8 years. Cancelled both because he thought it would "look cleaner" to lenders. His score tanked from 720 to 680 just like that. He spent the next 6 months kicking himself and applying for a secured card to rebuild.

vera_green691d ago

Honestly that story hits home because it's such a common trap people fall into. Everyone thinks they're being smart by "simplifying" their finances but they don't realize how much of their credit score is basically just time spent paying bills on time. Ngl it's like when people throw away old furniture because they want a cleaner look but then realize the new stuff costs way more and isn't as sturdy. Tbh I've seen this happen with friends who cancel gym memberships or streaming services they barely use too - they're trying to declutter but end up losing perks they actually still get value from. The trick is to keep those old accounts open even if you don't use them much, just put a small subscription on each and set up auto pay. Your friend's lesson is really common though, its not like he did anything dumb, just didn't understand the scoring system works counterintuitively.