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They don't ASK for your credit score, they pull it from the credit bureau (soft hit). It is used by virtually every insurance company.
How can they pull it if my records are frozen? Even I can't do that without paying a fee to all 3 credit bureaus. And I've been with the same insurance company for 30+ years. They could have checked it when I first applied but I don't think they were doing it back then.
We don't finance anything and haven't in over 10 years and don't care if we ever do again.
If we do not have the cash to pay for something we really don't need it.
We do not fuss or fret over a credit score that is useless to us and are quite happy with one less thing to fret over in our lives.
I can pay cash for anything that I may need. However, if I buy a new car and they are offering 0% interest, I will use their money not mine and then the credit score comes into importance.
One of the few benefits of old age may well be that we can forget about jumping through all the hoops to keep our credit scores high, such as maintaining a low percentage of credit card utilization, etc. The normal trajectory of aging from a financial point of view is that we eventually pay off our house and also end up in the house that will be the final house we will own because we will either die there or have to go into an assisted living facility and/or nursing home.
So first, we will never buy another house, therefore never need another home loan. Second, we will never need another loan of any kind at all, as a lifetime of saving has built up reserves adequate for our needs. Even cars can easily be purchased for cash, provided we don't need high-end cars. I paid cash for my MazdaSpeed3 in 2007.
About six or eight years ago I placed freezes on all three credit reporting bureaus for the purpose of preventing identity theft. Therefore I don't even have a credit score (or perhaps technically I have the lowest possible credit score because I do not "have" any credit history at all until I unfreeze my accounts at the three bureaus).
Furthermore, I will never need another credit card, because I have a good one with a $10,000 limit; I can't imagine needing more than one, as I have only had one for a long lifetime and that has worked just fine for me.
In the Personal Finance sub-forum of the Economics Forum here, there are lots of threads about people agonizing about strategies for maximizing their credit scores, and it occurred to me that the lack of such a worry is perhaps one of the few benefits of old age. The primary benefit of old age is probably not having to go in to a full-time job five or six days a week, but it would be another thread topic to discuss what we like most about being older.
I think you should have several cc cards. The strip could be damaged, the card lost, numbers stolen etc.
One of the few benefits of old age may well be that we can forget about jumping through all the hoops to keep our credit scores high, such as maintaining a low percentage of credit card utilization, etc. The normal trajectory of aging from a financial point of view is that we eventually pay off our house and also end up in the house that will be the final house we will own because we will either die there or have to go into an assisted living facility and/or nursing home.
So first, we will never buy another house, therefore never need another home loan. Second, we will never need another loan of any kind at all, as a lifetime of saving has built up reserves adequate for our needs. Even cars can easily be purchased for cash, provided we don't need high-end cars. I paid cash for my MazdaSpeed3 in 2007.
About six or eight years ago I placed freezes on all three credit reporting bureaus for the purpose of preventing identity theft. Therefore I don't even have a credit score (or perhaps technically I have the lowest possible credit score because I do not "have" any credit history at all until I unfreeze my accounts at the three bureaus).
Furthermore, I will never need another credit card, because I have a good one with a $10,000 limit; I can't imagine needing more than one, as I have only had one for a long lifetime and that has worked just fine for me.
In the Personal Finance sub-forum of the Economics Forum here, there are lots of threads about people agonizing about strategies for maximizing their credit scores, and it occurred to me that the lack of such a worry is perhaps one of the few benefits of old age. The primary benefit of old age is probably not having to go in to a full-time job five or six days a week, but it would be another thread topic to discuss what we like most about being older.
That's an interesting thought. DH and I have as a goal, to be as debt free as humanly possible in our retirement, and we're there, for the most part. I think my credit score actually dropped by some points when we paid off our large equity line of credit when we sold the house which had that line, as it seems I don't use all the credit available to me or some nonsense like that. I always figured I'd never be a slave to credit scores or live my life or plan my finances to look good on Experian, or the other sites, we have all the insurance we need, are retired and plan to make any future expenses in cash, and we pay any bills timely so I care even less about my credit score now ( it's still good enough, if that matters).
I always thought the other liberating part of being a senior citizen is that you don't have to care what anyone thinks of you, or approves of how you look anymore, LOL. And of course, you don't have to get up early and go to work.
I think you should have several cc cards. The strip could be damaged, the card lost, numbers stolen etc.
You have advanced a very good argument for having more than one credit card. However, I am 70 and none of the above has ever happened to me, although I know something could happen tomorrow. Only if it should happen while I am traveling would it be a major inconvenience; if I am living at home I can get the bank to send me a new card and being without a credit card for a week would not create any problems at all. I pay cash for meals, groceries, and gasoline anyway.
You need at least one cc to make reservations or to rent a car. I use a points card for groceries & gas because I'm stingy, er FRUGAL. I get $100 back every few months. Obviously, I pay it off in full every month--wouldn't be worth bothering if I didn't.
I volunteer with multiple law enforcement organizations, so credit score is something that was looked at as part of the profile to determine if I was a "fit" for the organization. Bad credit equals more vulnerability towards temptations. I realize good people can have bad credit scores for multiple legitimate reasons, but the organizations are pretty sensitive towards vulnerability.
As someone who had to undergo security clearance reviews I understand this, it was part of what was considered for employees obtaining high clearances.
I have no debt, use two credit cards that I pay off in full every month, pay all of my bills on time, and my credit score is 803.
What is there to maintain?
I am not jumping through any hoops.....just paying my bills on time.
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