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SENIOR CITIZENS AND CREDIT
Acquiring credit as you approach retirement, or when
you become a senior citizen, is not easy. Women seniors
will have the most difficult time getting approved for
credit. Understanding
how age impacts your ability to
get credit is very important. Being denied credit solely
on your age is illegal. However, age can impact the type
of credit you apply for and income levels.
Why will seniors have a hard time obtaining credit?
The older generations come from a different time, a time
when credit cards were scarcely used, resulting in cash
being paid for most purchases. Also, loans were not as
widely used as they are today. Back then, it was common
practice for people to borrow money from family members
and friends. This results in a lack of lengthy, positive
credit histories for older Americans, making it hard to
obtain credit.
Seniors also tend to have to deal with impacting life
changes that will adversely affect their ability to
obtain credit. For example, retirement can result in a
substantial decline in income. Or, the death of a spouse
will result in entering into a lower income group. It is
not uncommon for creditors to want to close joint
accounts when a spouse dies and have the living spouse
reapply using their credit history only. These types of
changes have a major bearing on a Seniors' chances for
obtaining credit.
Learn more about
how life changes affect your credit.
How does ones age affect their credit rating?
The Equal Credit Opportunity Act protects
individuals from being denied credit because of their
age. Also, people over the age of 62 can not be denied
credit merely because they are not eligible for
insurance on the credit. Although age is protected for
obtaining credit, their are other instance when age can
influence that ability for seniors to obtain credit.
-- How close you are to retirement.
-- How much money you make.
-- What kind of loan are you applying for? Someone who is 80 is going to
have a hard time getting approved for any type of loan.
Seniors should get a copy of their credit report
regularly!
Senior citizens should always know what is on their
credit. Therefore it is a
good idea to
get a copy of your credit report at least
once/year. It is most important to get a copy of their
credit when a life event occurs, i.e. retirement, death
of spouse etc.. Inaccuracies, out-of-date and/or
incorrect info should be looked for. Learn more about
how to remove erroneous information from your credit
report.
Not every account is going to be listed on your credit
report. If their is a missing account that you think
should be present, request the credit bureau to include
the account. Also, right a letter to the creditor
requesting for the account to be reported.
Another important thing to look for on your credit
report as well as your spouses is the reporting of
present and past joint accounts on both of your credit
files. If they are not reported for both of you, contact
the creditor and the credit bureaus and request that the
information be updated and included.
Get a free copy of your credit report!
Gain instant access to your credit report from all three
major reporting agencies.
Additional articles related to credit reports:
--
Do you understand
how your credit score is determined?
-- Seniors should learn how to protect themselves from
identity theft.
-- It is important to familiarize yourself with common
practices for
protecting your SSN.
-- Seniors tend to have limited monies available for
spending. Therefore, it is a good idea to learn more
about
budgeting.
--
How your credit report and score are impacted by life's
events.
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Seniors and Credit
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