Experts always tell you to keep all your old credit cards open. Even if you’re not using them. But is there a time you should close them?
Having a credit card for a long time helps your credit score. Old credit cards, even with no balance on them, increase the average age of your accounts, which helps your credit score.
Sara Rathner, a personal finance expert with NerdWallet, says if you close an old card it could ding your score by a couple of points. That’s mainly because it lowers your total available credit limit.
Rathner says in general experts recommend not spending more than 30% of your total credit limit in a billing cycle. Even less than 10% is ideal. So, if your credit limit is suddenly lowered but your spending remains the same, it’s that much easier to overspend.