Keeping your credit score from going down

[bimmer456]

Originally Posted by arkie6

I have no idea what my credit score is. Is there some reason I need to be concerned about it if I don't intend to take out a loan? I haven't had a loan since 1989 or any debt since then other than credit cards which are paid in full every month.

Your credit is probably fine. The credit cards can give you a credit score so you have some idea.

[bimmer456]

Originally Posted by Darth One

Looool. Well if you can consistently get 40% gains on the market every year, enjoy your tens of millions of dollars in middle age.

Everyone else who thinks they can do this, but is wrong, is going to lose all their shit in the next economic slowdown

I'm at 75% return on investment so far. I like to gamble.

[Alvinized52]

Originally Posted by bimmer456

When I did a balance transfer there was typically a $10 fee so it made it not worth it unless it's a large amount and the interest rate is much better on the other card. Doesn't make sense if you're paying it off every month.

If you have fees then it doesnt make sense. But there are so many cards out there that offer good rates with no fees. I get those offers all the time.

At the time we used this strategy, my wife (girlfriend at the time) owed over $17k+ in debt. ( Which is huge for a college kid ). I was getting credit card offers for balance transfers for 0% for 6mos...w/ no fees. I had pretty good credit at the time because my parents house was under my name and I was part of thier loan since I was 18. I get credit card offers like that all the time.

So we moved the money around between 2-3 cards. She Paid the max she can afford every month. Eventually paid it completely off in a year or so. As your credit gets better, so do the rates... Ironically, you will get plenty of offers like this when you dont need it. Lol.

[kscarrol]

Originally Posted by bimmer456

I'm at 75% return on investment so far. I like to gamble.

Well done but being up 75% over almost 4 years is not a 40% annual return...

[Darth One]

Originally Posted by kscarrol

Well done but being up 75% over almost 4 years is not a 40% annual return...

Indeed. OP is doing well, but we’ve all had the wind at our backs the past 4 years. I think index funds have returned like, what...50% or so over the same period?

I’m not doubting you, OP, but in my strong opinion, you ‘gamble’ with money you already have, not money you’re borrowing through HELOC or wherever. You lose that money and you’re now struggling to pay off that loan from your other cash flow...or you’re losing your house.

This happened to countless people during the last downturn of the late ‘10s. Economy slows, those investments start to lose money. This compounds when the same people lost their jobs or got underemployed, so now they REALLY can’t pay off these HELOCs.

I wouldn’t discourage you from investing, and your general thinking of making your money work for you is great...just proceed with caution. Leveraged investing is one of the riskiest things you can do.

[bimmer456]

Originally Posted by Darth One

Indeed. OP is doing well, but we’ve all had the wind at our backs the past 4 years. I think index funds have returned like, what...50% or so over the same period?

I’m not doubting you, OP, but in my strong opinion, you ‘gamble’ with money you already have, not money you’re borrowing through HELOC or wherever. You lose that money and you’re now struggling to pay off that loan from your other cash flow...or you’re losing your house.

This happened to countless people during the last downturn of the late ‘10s. Economy slows, those investments start to lose money. This compounds when the same people lost their jobs or got underemployed, so now they REALLY can’t pay off these HELOCs.

I wouldn’t discourage you from investing, and your general thinking of making your money work for you is great...just proceed with caution. Leveraged investing is one of the riskiest things you can do.

I'n not actually using HELOC money to invest, though I've entertained the idea. At one point I was up over 100 percent and am slowly making my way back to that. I probably won't use HELOC money because it's less profitable and higher risk especially with a variable rate. I am re-investing dividends and shit like that but no I'm not getting stuck with a huge loan if I lose money. I did use HELOC money to upgrade my roof and partially to finance my car. In the process of refi to get the better introductory rate and then maybe I'll do a fixed rate after that.

[David70]

Originally Posted by kscarrol

Well done but being up 75% over almost 4 years is not a 40% annual return...

X2. Think this is a little more than 14% annual returns.

At 18% annual returns you double your money in 4 years.

At 7% you double your money in 10 years. All before taxes.

No chance I would take out any loan to use the money to invest in the stock market (to open a business is a different thing). Make a realistic 8-10% and pay taxes on it, ending up with 7-8% (with considerable risk of doing much worse) and a loan that I took out at 6-7%? With my house on the line if something really bad happens.

[bimmer456]

Originally Posted by David70

X2. Think this is a little more than 14% annual returns.

At 18% annual returns you double your money in 4 years.

At 7% you double your money in 10 years. All before taxes.

No chance I would take out any loan to use the money to invest in the stock market (to open a business is a different thing). Make a realistic 8-10% and pay taxes on it, ending up with 7-8% (with considerable risk of doing much worse) and a loan that I took out at 6-7%? With my house on the line if something really bad happens.

Not sure where you're getting those numbers from, maybe you're just dividing the number by years. The graph shows the percentage over time and it was negative in the early years but going up after that. Below are the numbers for 1 month, YTD etc. it is higher than that. 3 Yr is over 105%.

[XutvJet]

Originally Posted by bimmer456

I'm at 75% return on investment so far. I like to gamble.

What type of investment is this?

How much money did you put into it?

"Gambling" is a terrible investment strategy. It's fun to play around a bit if you've got some extra money, but taking big investment risks usually leads to failure in 90+% of the cases. For most, solid stocks/funds/bonds and time in the market is the way a secure investment strategy. When you get a solid nest egg (typically $1M for most), then you can play around a bit with some of it on some riskier stuff.

[bimmer456]

Originally Posted by XutvJet

What type of investment is this?

How much money did you put into it?

I brought a bunch of Apple stock. Let's just say it's a significant amount.

[David70]

Originally Posted by bimmer456

Not sure where you're getting those numbers from, maybe you're just dividing the number by years. The graph shows the percentage over time and it was negative in the early years but going up after that. Below are the numbers for 1 month, YTD etc. it is higher than that. 3 Yr is over 105%.

My numbers are from here - https://www.bankrate.com/calculators...alculator.aspx


Normally people use average rate of return per year over ROI because it is difficult to compare ROI's. If my investment went up 173% over 4 years and your investment went up 240% over 8 years it is difficult to tell who's performed better. If my investment averaged 14% over 4 years and your investment averaged 16% over 6 years it is simpler.

It is also sometimes misleading to pick certain time periods that did extremely well and talk just about those if it virtually impossible to reliably buy on the bottom and sell at the top.

[bimmer456]

Originally Posted by David70

My numbers are from here - https://www.bankrate.com/calculators...alculator.aspx


Normally people use average rate of return per year over ROI because it is difficult to compare ROI's. If my investment went up 173% over 4 years and your investment went up 240% over 8 years it is difficult to tell who's performed better. If my investment averaged 14% over 4 years and your investment averaged 16% over 6 years it is simpler.

It is also sometimes misleading to pick certain time periods that did extremely well and talk just about those if it virtually impossible to reliably buy on the bottom and sell at the top.

I just buy and hold it will go up over time. If I sold today I did pretty well but would have done better if I sold a few months ago. It will likely blow past the previous all time high within the next couple months the way things are trending, but like you said hard to predict exactly when. Earnings were reported last week and the price spiked in after hours trading and was up the next morning. Made several thousand dollars as a result. Things have leveled off a bit since. So there are some indicators when things will go up but not an exact science and I'm not betting on that. A dividend is going to be paid later this month which I will likely reinvest in the stock.

[OkieSnuffBox]

Originally Posted by PoorLurker

Thanks for the compliment! Regarding the talk about liquid? Are you asking what soda I bought with the calzone? I am not quite sure where you are from that you call it liquid, haha. Is this some new slang lingo?

Not sure where I said I have money. I said people admire that I know money. Hence- this man knows his money.

If giving up free money = knowing money, then I don't know money.

Originally Posted by PoorLurker

and as you can see- the store doesnt even take credit cards - look at at the sign

And? A 25-year old TV episode proves what? That some small businesses don't take cards? Good for them. I won't patronize their business. I've had that happen exactly once in the last 15-16 years.

We recently went to a little hole in the wall mexican place last year, on the door it said "Cash only. No cards, no checks." We turned around and left.

[bimmer456]

Originally Posted by OkieSnuffBox

If giving up free money = knowing money, then I don't know money.

And? A 25-year old TV episode proves what? That some small businesses don't take cards? Good for them. I won't patronize their business. I've had that happen exactly once in the last 15-16 years.

We recently went to a little hole in the wall mexican place last year, on the door it said "Cash only. No cards, no checks." We turned around and left.

If the hole in the wall place is really good and really cheap I'd consider it but not as a regular customer. Most small business not run by anyone over 60 will accept cards these days.

[David70]

If I want to go somewhere and they only take cash I bring cash. Not seeing it as a big deal.

[OkieSnuffBox]

Originally Posted by David70

If I want to go somewhere and they only take cash I bring cash. Not seeing it as a big deal.

We didn't know they only took cash until we parked and walked up to see the sign on the door. At that point, I already have to leave to go to an ATM, so I'm just going to go somewhere else.

[Hawkeye]

Originally Posted by bimmer456

So BofA was threatening to cancel my credit card if I didn't use it, which would have lowered my credit score. Today was the last day to use it without getting screwed even though I did nothing wrong. With no physical card and thus no security code I couldn't use the card but a stroke of genius told me to add it to Apple Pay. Now credit score is safe. Pretty lame that I would be punished if I didn't charge anything to the card. Seems counterintuitive ya think?

Call BS. You can't add it to Apple Pay without the security code that you say you didn't have.

Just adding it to Apple Pay won't stop them from canceling it, you still have to use it.

It is not counter intuitive. Anyone can open a lot of cards and stick them in a drawer and not use them, which ties up resources from the issuing bank. Someone that can use a card and keep in good standing is showing they are actively responsible, which is important for someone opening a line of credit they very likely intend to use.

Are you more worried about the average age of credit or the available credit with that card closing? There are ways to deal with each one.

[LOW4LYF]

[QUOTE=Alvinized52;24745811]
3) keep monthly balances under 30% of credit limits.
[QUOTE]

You mean each card less than 30% or in total?

[bimmer456]

Originally Posted by Hawkeye

Call BS. You can't add it to Apple Pay without the security code that you say you didn't have.

Just adding it to Apple Pay won't stop them from canceling it, you still have to use it.

It is not counter intuitive. Anyone can open a lot of cards and stick them in a drawer and not use them, which ties up resources from the issuing bank. Someone that can use a card and keep in good standing is showing they are actively responsible, which is important for someone opening a line of credit they very likely intend to use.

Are you more worried about the average age of credit or the available credit with that card closing? There are ways to deal with each one.

I thought so too but it let me add the card from the BofA app to Apple Pay no card number or code required. No BS. After adding to Apple Pay I used it as I mentioned in the earlier post.

[Alvinized52]

[QUOTE=LOW4LYF;24761601][QUOTE=Alvinized52;24745811]
3) keep monthly balances under 30% of credit limits.
[QUOTE]

You mean each card less than 30% or in total?[/QUOTE

Each!

[OkieSnuffBox]

[QUOTE=Alvinized52;24764219][QUOTE=LOW4LYF;24761601][QUOTE=Alvinized52;24745811]
3) keep monthly balances under 30% of credit limits.

You mean each card less than 30% or in total?[/QUOTE

Each!

My credit score doesn't seem to have changed?

I consolidated everything to 1 card (0% interest transfer), so that card is up above 35%.........but my total utilization is only 11%.

[Alvinized52]

[QUOTE=OkieSnuffBox;24764690][QUOTE=Alvinized52;24764219][QUOTE=LOW4LYF;24761601]

Originally Posted by Alvinized52

3) keep monthly balances under 30% of credit limits.


My credit score doesn't seem to have changed?

I consolidated everything to 1 card (0% interest transfer), so that card is up above 35%.........but my total utilization is only 11%.

It could be you do not have long enough credit history yet. Do you have any big loans like student loans, mortgages, etc...??