Credit glossary
Credit age
Informal shorthand for how long you've had credit, usually meaning the age of your oldest account or the average age of all of them.
Apps use credit age loosely, so check which measure they mean. FICO's length of credit history category, about 15% of a score for the general population, considers the age of your oldest account, your newest account and the average of all of them. Closed accounts still count while they remain on your report, which can be about 10 years for one closed in good standing.
Credit age is the slowest factor to change and the easiest to dent. A new account lowers the average immediately, and closing your oldest card shifts the oldest-account figure once that account eventually leaves your report. For most people, protecting credit age means opening accounts sparingly and keeping old no-fee cards open and lightly used.
Guides that go deeper
- What closing a credit card actually does to your scoreClosing a card cuts your available credit right away but doesn't erase its history for years. See the utilization math and when closing is still the right call.
- How many credit cards should you have? The math behind the numberFICO publishes no ideal number of credit cards. What matters is what each card does to utilization, account age and recent applications. The math, worked out.
Sources
- Length of Credit History, myFICO
- Closed Accounts and Your Credit History, Experian
This is education, not legal or financial advice. Spot an error? Tell us and we'll fix it.