+5 votes
by (890 points)
I have a secured credit card that’s 8yrs old. The oldest I have. Will it affect my credit if I closed it so I can get the cash and invest it? New credit cards are 2 yrs old. Not secured cards.  
I have a secured credit card that’s 8yrs old.

5 Answers

+2 votes
by (510 points)
 
Best answer
Yes it would reduce your average age of credit by a lot and would have a pretty big impact on your score.  
+1 vote
by (3.4k points)
Yes, it would. I only cancel new cards after determining if they're worth it. Once you get a secured card, keep it a couple years, then get rid of it after using the credit tou gained with it to get a new better one. Your oldest cards should never be cancelled after a long time unless you're willing to take a credit score hit. Don't base your life on credit scores if possible though. There are ways to get around a lower credit score.  
+3 votes
by (1.5k points)
Credit history accounts for about 15% of your credit score. Cancelling a card can take up to 10 years to fall of your report. It would be worth calling the secured card servicer to see if they would be willing to move you to an unsecured card. If you have a good score, 750+ if probably wouldn’t hurt you that much to cancel the card. Good luck!  
+4 votes
by (1.9k points)
If you need to use your score in the next year then keep the card. Otherwise dump it. There are a few tricks to bump up your score to make it up
+1 vote
by (480 points)
Cards stay on your report for 10 years so no closing it will not matter. But after 8 years of on time payments just see if the bank will change it from a secured card to a no annual fee normal credit card. Usually they do that after awhile automatically, surprised you've had a secured card open that long.  
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