Check your “Credit Age”
I get a ton of emails each day with media releases and “check this URL out” requests. I usually scan over it and file it appropriately, but I usually don’t ever take action on them. Recently, though, I got a request to take a “Credit Age” quiz, and since I love rankings and such, I decided to try it out.
What is a “Credit Age”?
Per the press release, a “credit age” is an indicator that shows your credit health in terms of an age. Much like the Wii Fit can show your health in terms of an age, the credit age tool takes input from 8 different (simple) questions to determine where you stand against your peers.
How does Credit Age differ from your FICO Score?
Well, first, Credit Age is limited to a normal human lifespan, while FICO scores top out at 850.
Second, FICO scores can impact your entire life, from getting a mortgage or car loan, getting decent car insurance rates, and even getting a job or security clearance. The Credit Age is just for fun (and a bit of education too).
Third, Credit Age does not access your credit file, but you do need to know your credit history to select the most correct answers to the questions.
So while this credit age has no direct impact on your life, you can use it as an educational tool (albeit a simple one) to see how your credit history would look as an age.
What is the Ranking Scale?
The quiz gives you both your age and a rank. I don’t know what ages correspond to what ranks, but I scored the highest rank: Credit Connoisseur (Age 52). Note that the younger ages are worse:
- Credit Newbie: You’ve not built any real or good credit.
- Credit Curious: You still have a lot to learn, but with the right moves and enough time you can build solid credit.
- Credit Capable: You understand how to care for your credit.
- Credit Connoisseur: You are the master of your finances. You know how to pay off your debts and save for the future.
How is Credit Age Useful?
Since you can take the quiz any number of times, you can select different answers to see the impacts of different variables on your final age. Unfortunately, it relies on YOU to make the assumptions and do the research to figure out why they make a difference. The site owner says they’re looking for more feedback to make it more useful for its users, so leave your comment here and they’ll get back to the site operator.
Oh, and if you’re a site owner and like showing stuff like this, you get a nice little banner like the following (actually, the picture looks a bit like me. Just needs gorilla arms). Obviously it’s a way for the site owner to get a link back, but you can edit the code before placing it on your site if you wish:
in credit years!
Credit Age Quiz by SpendOnLife.com
I’m a credit newbie (8).
The only problem is, if you say you have no debt you get a lower score than if you say you always pay your mortgage and other loans on time. There’s no option for “i own my house outright and carry no debt at all” — which maybe would make you Credit Crone, ha ha.
@JK – As a note, if you don’t have credit cards or much open debt, then I think the site assumes you don’t have the credit history either. In general, the less credit history you have, the lower your FICO score because banks, etc. have less information to base their decision on about you.
I got age 42 and Credit Connoiseur.
Sounds like a good tool if it can help describe how you can benefit or how it may be a negative thing that you correspond with your score. Otherwise it doesn’t have any true value.
I had never heard of credit age but got a 43.
@CD – Thanks for posting about this. We are looking for ways to try and make what can be a boring subject at times a little more fun. It’s a learning process to see what users like and react to.
@Craig – I think your right in that it could use some education at the end to say what is good and bade for each answer and why. I’ll see what I can do on that end to make it more useful.
I got age 49. Not to bad. It’s weird on the credit card thing because I carry credit card debt but it’s at zero percent. If it weren’t then I wouldn’t carry it. So that always throws my score off in things like this.
No disrespect,.. but this is kind of pointless. I mean, what does your credit age apply to? Nothing. All it really does is put your knowledge and ability of handling debt against an arbitrary number. I already know that I’m smart about my credit handling, so I don’t need a site to pat me on the back. Heck,.. I would suppose most people that would go to a site like that would already know their position on credit.
I’m sorry,.. I guess I just don’t see the point.
(By the way,.. I’m a 45 year old Credit Connoiseur)
I got a 44, credit connoisseur.
I agree there is not much point to this other than for fun, but then that is what he said in the post to begin with. And it is a little fun, even for someone who feels like she has it under control.
I would be really curious what being a woman or a man has to do with this quiz? I changed only that 1 answer and got the exact same score. Would anyone else be willing to retake the quiz and switch the gender, did it make a difference?
I think it might be helpful for people just starting to get a handle on their finances to see that having a card open a long time, and keeping the charged/avail credit ratio low help in the credit score.