Is the interest rate worth the credit history?

[Sigarms]

That’s the position I wanted to be in and achieved it about 15 years ago at around age 50. Just a credit card now for convenience which gets paid in full each month. But I did run into a hiccup not long ago when I purchased a new Kubota $45k tractor using their zero down/zero interest offer. Kubota Credit said it was the amount that gave them pause. I let them peek at my retirement account and all good to go .

I have to laugh...

When a land and house payment, no way was I going to add a tractor payment on top of that (after going to numerous auctions).

I ended up buying John Thomas's Kubota F series mower because that's what I could afford cash at the time.

Like most of our cars, that "used" buy has worked out pretty well for me.

I don't live on credit, just trying to understand it...

 

[ultrarunner]

Sadly the retirement system was wrecked when I got out in 2017 so no more 20 and 50% of the top three

Before all the base auto hobby shops were sold/closed around 2014, you could live in the dorms and have a place to go work on stuff. I don't think they ever re opened them

A couple of the career navy old car guys restored cars wherever they were based…

One had his engine rebuilt in Hawaii, body and paint in Japan and Upholstery in New Zealand… he was a transport pilot and there was a glitch/delay with one transfer so he loaded his Model A onto an empty C130 he was piloting… took a few nods along the way but bottom line is no one on the base wanted to be responsible for it waiting for transport.

The Model A Ford was his only vehicle… almost went to Germany and Philippines.

 

[newbury]

A couple of the career navy old car guys restored cars wherever they were based…

One had his engine rebuilt in Hawaii, body and paint in Japan and Upholstery in New Zealand… he was a transport pilot and there was a glitch/delay with one transfer so he loaded his Model A onto an empty C130 he was piloting… took a few nods along the way but bottom line is no one on the base wanted to be responsible for it waiting for transport.

The Model A Ford was his only vehicle… almost went to Germany and Philippines.

Yeah, always helps if you have a spare C130 for transport

 

[hiddentacocatneddih]

couldn't pay me enough to ride in the old 4 fan flying trashcan after catching a ride in a C-17

 

[ultrarunner]

These guys retired in the 70’s and made good use of the base hobby shops… auto repair, etc.

Didn’t know that the shops are no more.

 

[MossRoad]

I have a cousin that is retired from the Army. Back in the 80s he got sent to Germany. He was allowed to take so many pounds of personal belongings. So he took his Ford Maverick and drove it on the Autobahn. Said he got a ticket for too slow and not pulling over soon enough for faster traffic. People would laugh at him, but he had a blast.

 

[hiddentacocatneddih]

These guys retired in the 70’s and made good use of the base hobby shops… auto repair, etc.

Didn’t know that the shops are no more.

Sequestration caused the loss of a lot of things

 

[Torvy]

Having and paying off a loan on time, was how I was taught was the way to increase your credit score when I was younger. I don't think this was ever really the case. I think it was a sales pitch to get people stuck on credit. I've never had a loan to payoff in my life. And never carried over a C-card balance with interest: Always paid off every month. And I have a near perfect credit score. So how ever a scoring agency, such as equifax, calculates this score, can't be based on loan repayment since I've never taken out a loan. I think it is based more on personal assets, income, and paying bills on time, than anything else.
Got a cash back C-card last year, 2%, yet every time I try to use it for something big like Prop taxes, the fine print, and I mean very hard to see fine print, says using a Card incurs a transaction fee of 2.9% or so, negating any advantage.

1) Assets do not calculate at all into credit scores. They do affect loan terms on things like mortgages, but not FICO or Vanguard scores. Auto loans don't even address your assets other than the collateral (car or truck in this case).

2) Income is not part of it at all, either. There is no reporting mechanism for thr bureaus to have your income info. Again, banks will get that info from you directly as part of a loan application. It is used along side credit scores (and in some cases assets) to make loan terms.

3) Most bills are not reported to credit bureaus, though some are. Typically, anything with a monthly balance of $75 or less is not reported. It costs companies money to report, so smaller ones either never report or only do so when there is negative info.

4) Credit cards are loans. They are considered a revolving credit line. Everything you charge on the card is a short term loan. The bank doesn't typically charge interest on that loan unless a balance carries onto the next statement.

Not just my opinion. I worked in 2 major banks for over 20 years and taught Economics and Personal Finance (among other things).

The info that is used for FICO is available online. On general, Investopedia has good info and is politically neutral.

FICO Score

A FICO score is a credit score that many lenders use to assess an applicant’s credit risk. Learn how a FICO score works and how you can raise your credit score.

www.investopedia.com

 

[Torvy]

Sequestration caused the loss of a lot of things

Correction, the knee-jerk response to sequestration caused those losses. They could have saved much more money in other ways. These types of cuts were just intended to make people mad about cost reductions...I guessed it worked.

 

[hiddentacocatneddih]

There was a lot more then just that. The flight line got really quiet.


Parts were hard to get.