How to retire at 55 instead of 65 or 70.

[/pine]

Why would you pay to increase your credit score? It will come naturally if you control your spending and have money to pay for what you buy. Plus you do get credit points for having open credit accounts and using them without ever being late even if you pay them off each month.

You have to USE credit to increase a personal score...paying off 30 day charges does not effect a score

Generally if you pay off balances every 30 days the limit on a particular card will stay the same...carry a balance for 60 or 90 days and pay it off and they will almost always increase the limit on said card...

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Actually carrying a balance for short terms and paying just a little interest is a very good way of increasing personal credit scores if that number is important to you...paying off a balance every 30 days does nothing to help a credit score...

I pay my balance every month. Doesnt hurt my score, which has always been very good. Course i never really cared about credit score.
I once had a cc with a $40k limit. Used it during my house construction some, but still paid it off with bank draws on my construction loan.
There were times yrs ago i carried a little balance, usually because i made a late payment.

 

[MossRoad]

Average age for leaving the nest is now 28......

I lived with my folks till I was 24. My wife lived with hers until she was 23. We started dating when I was 18 and she was 17. We both paid our ways through our schools after high school. My folks gave me free room and board while I was going to school and working full time. Her folks charged her a modest rent after she got out of accounting school, but they put the rent back onto her student loans! :thumbsup: So, anyway, both our folks gave us a chance to pay off our school debts with free room and board, so when we got married, we had money for a downpayment on a house and were debt free from the get-go, having a positive net worth when we said "I do".

Our oldest moved out after getting her bachelor's degree at 22. Our youngest will be in college until she's at least 26, so she'll keep her residency at our place until at least then.

 

[Oldoak]

Actually carrying a balance for short terms and paying just a little interest is a very good way of increasing personal credit scores if that number is important to you...paying off a balance every 30 days does nothing to help a credit score...

True. And it really should NOT be that way. Just the opposite.

A person who pays off their whole debt every month should have an excellent credit score. But no, the financial institutions force people to carry a credit balance and PAY for a good credit score by making them PAY monthly interest on their credit card. Extortion!

 

[MossRoad]

Great advice everyone!

Turning 30 this year and have been reading up on retirement information for the last 6 months. A lot of information to process and learn. Glad to hear some short personal stories on what others have done.

I do have some debt, but am paying extra each month on the truck, tractor, and CC. The truck and tractor were new purchases to go along with our recent move last year to 20 acres. Somewhat of an investment purchase in our eyes. My credit card debt is the thorn in my side. I have been carrying and transferring it from when I went about 2 years working without a full time job. But, it will be paid off this year and those **** things will be cut up into a hundred pieces!

Luckily I have a job with a defined pension plan. Vested after 20 years and maxed after 32. Paying 50% (base salary at retirement) at 20 years of service and 74% at 32. Which would put me maxing out around 56 years old. We contribute 6% of our salary and employer contributes much more to the pension. Also have the option of an additional self funded 457b. Currently I am putting 9% salary into that (I have done what others have mentioned and increased the number slowly with raises). Hopefully the next 25 years will go as planned an I can join some of y'all retiring before 60!

You sure its going to take 20 years to get vested?

 

[Doofy]

I thought usual vesting time was 5-7 years.

 

[Creamer]

You have to USE credit to increase a personal score...paying off 30 day charges does not effect a score

Generally if you pay off balances every 30 days the limit on a particular card will stay the same...carry a balance for 60 or 90 days and pay it off and they will almost always increase the limit on said card...

Funny. They kept raising my limits until I told them to stop because I had plenty of credit. My Discover card I have had for 30 years - they gave me a notice the other day thanking me for hitting that anniversary. I don't know what perfect credit is but I do know I have never had a problem getting it when i needed it. I wouldn't know what my score was except Discover puts it on the statement now.

 

[RSKY]

DON' CUT UP YOUR CARDS!!!!

Use them wisely instead. Pay them off monthly. Letting credit card debt pile up is the second quickest way to financial ruin I know of. First quickest way is a divorce.

An example why you shouldn't cut up your cards.

Since I posted earlier this morning I figured out I have been screwing myself out of some money. One of my cards is from the financial company that I have my main IRA with. It was a rollover from a 401K that I put money in for over twenty years. Two percent (2%) of every purchase goes back into that IRA. I was paying bills this morning and had one from my surgery last year for $1357.77. Had the check wrote and I thought wait a **** minute. I can get $27.15 put back in my IRA if I pay this online. Took me thirty minutes to do it. So I made a little over $50 an hour for that time.

How many other bills have I paid by check that could have been done with that card and the 2% back. And the money in that IRA made 30% last year. Crapp, probably screwed myself out of a couple thousand dollars over the past six years.

AARRRGGGGHHHHH !

Use credit cards wisely. Pay them off each month. Shop cards for the extras they give you. Pay them off each month. NEVER carry credit card debt.

NEVER carry credit card debt. It is too easy to dig yourself an early grave.

RSKY

p.s.

NEVER carry credit card debt !!

 

[/pine]

Funny. They kept raising my limits until I told them to stop because I had plenty of credit. My Discover card I have had for 30 years - they gave me a notice the other day thanking me for hitting that anniversary. I don't know what perfect credit is but I do know I have never had a problem getting it when i needed it. I wouldn't know what my score was except Discover puts it on the statement now.

I've never cared about a credit score...I use my cards like most here, pay off the balance every 30 days and take the cash back or rewards...I have no cards that charge a fee...

My remarks about using the credit was intended for folks that actually care about their personal scores and wish to maximize it...you can't get cell service from any of the major carriers without them checking a new customer's credit rating...

I have a couple cards I keep with a less than max limit for paypal, amazon etc...they are always wanting to up the limits on those cards...I gave up Discover because it seemed like every time I used it at a place I had not used it before they would flag it I would have to call them...got old...

 

[RedNeckGeek]

True. And it really should NOT be that way. Just the opposite.

A person who pays off their whole debt every month should have an excellent credit score. But no, the financial institutions force people to carry a credit balance and PAY for a good credit score by making them PAY monthly interest on their credit card. Extortion!

That's because the lending institutions use your "Credit Score" as a measure of how much profit they can make from your activities. If you keep your credit cards paid off, they don't make interest off your monthly balance, only on the fees they charge merchants. Same deal if you don't carry a mortgage; your credit score is negatively impacted.

An even better measure of this insane practice is the effect financial independence has on insurance premiums. Most major insurance companies base insurance premiums at least in part on your credit score, and the lower your score, the higher your premium!

Not much in life is fair, and this is just another instance.:thumbdown:

Also, it always bothered me that the CC companies kept asking me if I wanted the limit on my cards raised. Years ago I thought that was a good thing, and always said yes. It came in handy a few times during major remodels, but I always paid off the balance every month. Then when all the credit card scams and identity theft crime took off, I had second thought about that high limit and had it cut in half. Yes, I know I'm not responsible for fraudulent charges, but it didn't make any sense to me to increase the potential size of those charges.