I wouldn't want to be the one to test this theory. A poor credit score will hurt you in a tight-credit environment. The world is still turning, so no, don't let your credit collapse. You will only be f-ing yourself.
Working to be lenders instead of borrowers should be the goal of every trader... I see it as lending is good, borrowing sucks and trading is in between... lenders don't need a credit score really, unless they borrow to lend and who wants to do that? I'd say that if one trashes their credit on the way to trading success then it's not a problem... clinging to the credit is just retarded sometimes... The conventional wisdom is that a person is entirely hogtied and handicapped in the US without credit and it's just not true at all. Things are negotiable, instead of having good credit, show the landlord that you can and will make the rent and throw in the odd errands on the side.. that's worth a lot to some very busy people nowadays.. when the rental agency asks for your card negotiate to give them some cash to hold until you bring the car back... I have not done international travel but so far, no credit = GOOD... no bills to factor in, no surprises from those assclown lenders that lower your headroom and use it as an excuse to put you over the limit so they can jack your rates and charge you fees... I don't take treatment from anybody like that, not anybody.. and I showed them by just stiffing them and forgetting EVER having credit again, they don't understand anything else really... of course I could see that trading success was coming up on the horizon, if you don't have that going on, stay in the chicken coop until you do..
A few years ago I tried to condense my finances. Close some cc accounts and a few bank accounts. Each time I was told this would hurt my credit score, so I left everything alone. Fast forward, to this year and last year, the banks closed the unused accounts, and lowered limits on some cards anyways. Heck for all I know my score has dropped while I haven't done anything differently. We are at their mercy. I had read an article or saw an interview with Mister FICO and even he admitted the "system" may change to accommodate the banking actions. We'll see. As far as trashing your credit, not good. How will you rent a car, or check into a hotel, travel without a cc?
I agree. I have excellent credit and live below my means always. You can rent from Enterprise w/o CC and you can get a secured credit card.
The old fashioned way, I moved and they can't find me to serve me.. I'm not trying too hard to avoid them, I moved for other reasons and apparently it's not worth it for them to make a little more effort to locate me. In this worsening economy they are probably going after the easier victims that just got out of work and have some savings... Collectors do all sorts of illegal things.. had I it to do over again I would be in court suing them, some have collected some fairly large settlements, I heard of $65,000 in one case... I'd recommend that defaulters get a card and software and use their computer to record all calls.. the collectors are not supposed to make multiple calls, they were calling me all day every day for a long time.. and they could get abusive too... I needed to just record the calls with date and time stamps and they were had... it was just my hobby to try to piss them off for a long time, I never thought of suing... I'm not making much at all from trading currently, it's turned into a huge software and research program.. if I get the current plan off the ground, I might meet with an attorney and find out if it's better to pay them or let it go off the record, in one more year it goes off the record for credit scoring purposes... I don't think I'll try to establish credit again, it creeps me out just thinking about it, who thinks this stuff up anyhow? I'm surprised at how much happier I am with no bills.. the residence is in a Trust and not associated with my name and it's paid for, no mortgage, just utilities and annual tax bill.. I eat, sleep, breathe, exercise, travel, socialize, etc.. all without credit, imagine that!
Yes. .. cmon .. lets not bullshit. nothing is going to change. if the last 12 months havent motivated people, the next 12 aint gonna do it.
I don't have any credit cards anymore. I just use a debit card for everything like that. How easy they are to use when stolen is really the main drawback with that tho. I just have a separate checking account set up to use with that card and just transfer money over there when needed. Hassle but at least i don't have to worry about someone draining my full account.
You moved and they can't find you? LOL! You're what's known as a deadbeat. You took money and didn't pay it back. At any rate, I think a credit score is important. For instance, the insurance companies check your credit. They do turn people down, because they believe (rightly or wrongly) that bad credit equals a personality type that may do things that cost insurance companies money. Companies check prospective employees. Bad credit they may not hire you. By the way, if you have good credit, you don't have to use it irresponsibly. You can pay your credit cards off monthly, etc. But let's face it, credit cards are convenient. The bottom line is that when you borrow money you've obligated yourself to repay. When you don't repay, no one else is going to especially care, one way or another, except for the person/company you borrowed it from. But they're going to gig you on your credit...and these things don't come off for 7 years. 10 years for a bankruptcy. And I would have to believe that somewhere down deep you lose a little respect for yourself. By the way, I'm a landlord. One of the things I look at when I evaluate a prospective tenant is the credit score. Bad credit scores tell something about the tenant. OldTrader
preferably a debit card on a bank account without overdraft fees. I heard that some banks don't care if your debit card is stolen, they will not refund overdraft fees incurred. an example is bank of america and citigroup.