Fed cuts rates... again Options

[Spectatrix]

... by three quarters of a percent. Thoughts?

[Spectatrix]

Yes, the carrying a balance thing. Like I said before, your credit report and credit score don't differentiate between carrying a balance and paying off the card every month. Granted, if you only put $50 on your card each month, you're not going to build credit very quickly. Putting a high balance on a card can be good whether you pay it off at the end of the month or pay it down gradually (obviously you wouldn't want to do this unless it's at 0% interest). But most important is simply paying your bills on time and not maxing out your cards.

But if you have an aggresive IRA you are invested in the stock market.

Which is why I said I don't deal with the stock market otherwise.

This post has been edited by Spectatrix: Jan 24 2008, 05:13 PM

[impala454]

Yes, the carrying a balance thing. Like I said before, your credit report and credit score don't differentiate between carrying a balance and paying off the card every month.

Of course paying bills on time is what it's about. But so is available balance and past history. If for two years you buy something for $125 once a month and pay it off, you'll get nowhere near the credit as if you carried $3,000 over 24 months at 0% interest. It's all about taking risks. If you've never bought something expensive on some type of credit or loan before, how does the lender know you're good for that $100,000 home loan? I'm apparently bad financial advice though so no need to answer that question.

Which is why I said I don't deal with the stock market otherwise.

Well that's not what I was talking about. I personally don't buy and build a stock portfolio either. All I was getting at is that people our age need to be putting more money into riskier investments, and through the past few posts it's obvious that you are, which is good. I was dissing the CDs because I think they're pretty lame for young people. Tying up $5000 in order to make a couple hundred IMHO is pretty worthless. Especially when regular old savings accounts are in the 4%+ range anyways and you can do whatever you want with your cash then. But again, I'm apparently bad financial advice.

[Spectatrix]

If you've never bought something expensive on some type of credit or loan before, how does the lender know you're good for that $100,000 home loan?

Payment history. As in, whether you pay on time or are late. I'm not trying to troll you or anything, but if you have a credit report handy, go take a look at it. For revolving credit, they show credit limit, max balance, current balance, and most recent payment. For installment accounts, they show the loan amount, monthly payment, and most recent payment. As far as the lender is concerned, previous installment accounts are a good gauge because they know you've been making at least the minimum monthly payment, but the revolving accounts don't give enough information for them to determine much about your payment history (other than late or not). If your credit reports have shown differently, I'd be interested to know.

This post has been edited by Spectatrix: Jan 24 2008, 06:42 PM

[impala454]

Payment history. As in, whether you pay on time or are late. I'm not trying to troll you or anything, but if you have a credit report handy, go take a look at it. For revolving credit, they show credit limit, max balance, current balance, and most recent payment. For installment accounts, they show the loan amount, monthly payment, and most recent payment. As far as the lender is concerned, previous installment accounts are a good gauge because they know you've been making at least the minimum monthly payment, but the revolving accounts don't give enough information for them to determine much about your payment history (other than late or not). If your credit reports have shown differently, I'd be interested to know.

I don't have a copy handy, but most of them I have seen will show "high balance" as well. usually over the previous year. No worries about trolling, it's a good conversation to have.