Borrowing money I do not need

[oldman45]

Well... if you think you are old and figure you're not going to be around much longer, nor want to fool around with the credit or credit cards... I can understand that. But why not tell your banker the same thing? I too enjoy having personal relationships with my bankers. But if your banker is charging you to keep your money in his bank then maybe your banker knows you too well?

He does not charge me anything to keep money there. He is wanting to charge me 1% above what my money is making to loan me money. I know 1% is not a lot of money but I feel my credit score should be good because I am financially sound, especially in the current times.

 

[redlevel]

Then those owing more than they make, have nothing paid for and no money in the bank gets a top score.

Them ain't the folks who have top scores. People who use credit wisely, make their payments on time, and generally maintain a positive cash flow are the ones who have a top score.

 

[Class III]

I have a debit card and a six figure balance in the checking account. If I do not have the cash in my pocket, I use the debit card.

Hopefully you do NOT have more than $250K in any ONE bank. The way the FDIC works is each DEPOSITOR is insured up to $250K, not each account. Lets say you have five accounts with XYZ Bank. A checking and savings account at the branch around the corner from your office and an IRA and a couple of CD's at the branch down the street from your home. Lets say your total deposits are $450K with XYZ Bank. XYZ Bank goes belly-up and the FDIC transferes the assets of XYZ to ABC Bank. The most the FDIC is going to cover you for is $250K. Anything over the $250K per depositor limit is lost funds.

Class III

 

[batex]

I think the last time I checked my credit score was around 813, pretty "good" from what I understand or at least better than most. Having said that, I'd love to be in your position. Having a good credit score only means you are good at paying back money owed to someone which gives in turn, gives you the ability to continue to be in debt. I'd be very proud if you were you, being totally out of debt. We're working hard to get there! Yes, the banks penalize folks like you because they don't make money off of you. I'd rather they not make money off of me and wish my score was zero. I know some folks who could probably buy a small local bank for cash, but couldn't get a loan from them because of their credit score.

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

Hopefully you do NOT have more than $250K in any ONE bank. The way the FDIC works is each DEPOSITOR is insured up to $250K, not each account. Lets say you have five accounts with XYZ Bank. A checking and savings account at the branch around the corner from your office and an IRA and a couple of CD's at the branch down the street from your home. Lets say your total deposits are $450K with XYZ Bank. XYZ Bank goes belly-up and the FDIC transferes the assets of XYZ to ABC Bank. The most the FDIC is going to cover you for is $250K. Anything over the another $250K per depositor limit is lost funds. Properly done, you can insure $millions at one bank.

Class III

Good advice.

Including a wife on the accounts puts it up another 250K. You can put your kids on a "Payable on death", POD, for 250k each.

There is also unlimited FDIC insurance on non-interest bearing accounts. I don't have much in those types.

 

[Vulcan Bob]

I got rid of my credit cards years ago, same for car payments and such and have my house paid off for years, so Im in the same boat, no credit score. Just bought a new vehicle last week and when asked about a car loan I just said will a good check do, got a strange look but they took the check. Somehow you are considered a weirdo these days if you are not up to your ears in debt.

 

[oldman45]

Hopefully you do NOT have more than $250K in any ONE bank. The way the FDIC works is each DEPOSITOR is insured up to $250K, not each account. Lets say you have five accounts with XYZ Bank. A checking and savings account at the branch around the corner from your office and an IRA and a couple of CD's at the branch down the street from your home. Lets say your total deposits are $450K with XYZ Bank. XYZ Bank goes belly-up and the FDIC transferes the assets of XYZ to ABC Bank. The most the FDIC is going to cover you for is $250K. Anything over the $250K per depositor limit is lost funds.

Class III

I do not have 250K total. I wish I did. However, I was under the impression the limit was per account. A friend has accounts under several variations of his name, plus his wifes name. All under the same social security numbers but different accounts. He is in the 2 million a yr income bracket though. I am not even in a fraction of that bracket.

 

[Faulkner]

The only credit card I have is a Discover card in my name. I use it for all my business expenses. I turn in my expense reports, get reimbursed, pay the credit card bill, and maintain my credit score on somebody elses money and keep the cash back bonus to boot.

 

[Bat Guano]

NO debts here; I use the CC for important stuff like Brownell's, books and DVDs from Amazon, and gas, and pay it off in full each month. I get 5 free money orders a month that I use for bills and ration my cash till next payday. Had a weak moment years back and considered a small bank loan for an ATV, but the loan application looked like a top secret clearance form and I balled it up and ashcanned it.

No idea of what my credit rating might be and could care less. Young folks have to play along with the system to some degree. I don't.

One of my mentors once observed to me that "He's not your friendly banker; he's just your banker". As usual, he was right.

 

[vytoland]

Nope, I have a debit card and a six figure balance in the checking account. If I do not have the cash in my pocket, I use the debit card.

why are you giving free money to the bank?? they already got their bail out check.

that six figure checking account is costing you a good sum of interest being lost every month. why not put it in certificates of deposit or a conservative investment account??

 

[oldman45]

why are you giving free money to the bank?? they already got their bail out check.

that six figure checking account is costing you a good sum of interest being lost every month. why not put it in certificates of deposit or a conservative investment account??

I have some money in accounts. However, I have a consulting business I run out of my bank account that takes a lot of money to spend for work. So I have to keep a nice sum in the account.

 

[cp1969]

He does not charge me anything to keep money there. He is wanting to charge me 1% above what my money is making to loan me money. I know 1% is not a lot of money but I feel my credit score should be good because I am financially sound, especially in the current times.

I don't understand.

If you have no intention of borrowing money, why do you care that your credit score is zero?

 

[oldman45]

I don't understand.

If you have no intention of borrowing money, why do you care that your credit score is zero?

I just wanted to know what my score is. No intention of borrowing. My insurance company raised my rates due to my credit score. So I had the bank run the check. Now I am not talking a few dollar increase in premiums either, it is over $1400 per year. The banker suggested the loan against savings to get the score up.

Now the question is how long it will take for the score to get up enough to get the insurance back to a reasonable rate.

 

[leswad]

Just for fun, I had my bank run my credit score. It was ZERO.

Funny! This is my goal! I have not had a credit card in 10 years... I think I will throw a party when my score hits zero!

 

[CigarGuy]

I just wanted to know what my score is. No intention of borrowing. My insurance company raised my rates due to my credit score. So I had the bank run the check. Now I am not talking a few dollar increase in premiums either, it is over $1400 per year. The banker suggested the loan against savings to get the score up.

Now the question is how long it will take for the score to get up enough to get the insurance back to a reasonable rate.

Think I'd be shopping that insurance?

 

[oldman45]

I thought I would add that my bank pays 4% interest on checking account balances. Thiat is a pretty good rate and more than a CD would pay.

 

[boneman]

In the past 15 years my wife and I have always paid cash for everything. Like you we own our house, cars etc. But we have always maintained one credit card that we always use when we go on vacation. As soon as the bill comes in it is paid. We also take advantage of Lowes 18 month deals when we are doing home remodeling projects. When the time is up it is paid in cash. We bought a new Ford Tauraus a couple of months ago and just for fun we had them run our credit score, it was excellent we paid for the car with cash and went home. Whatever we are doing it works for us. Good luck. Larry

 

[neiljrosen]

Find a new bank.

 

[JohnnieB]

Both being NRA Life Members, SWMBO and I make nearly all of our purchases using NRA endorsed credit cards, which in turn contributes a percentage of those purchases to NRA-ILA. Other than the credit card balance, which is paid in full monthly, we have no debt, but we do have an excellent credit rating.

Shortly before the turn of the century, I got a promotion, we moved from MI to WV and sold the house we had just paid off, for ~5 times what we paid for it and became aware the housing market might be a little out of touch with reality. After doing some research, I moved 90% of my 401K into commodities shortly before stocks took the plunge. Like everybody else, I lost about 50% on the stock market, but gained a bit on the rest, so I did a little better than breaking even overall.

Since retiring, I've stuck with low-risk low-return investments and with any luck and a significant change in the direction our country is heading, I might be able to afford three meals a day, an occasional S&W and a roof over my head until I die.

John

 

[cassidy]

Credit Scores

System stinks
However remember your credit score is also used in determining you Life Ins Premium--you home insurance --and your auto insurance ETC-
They have us!!