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There isn’t anything specific that automatically happens when you keep a credit card open for more than 10 years — other than your annual fee (if applicable) being charged on your account anniversary like clockwork. Your credit card issuer may send you a thank-you note or something similar, but that’s about it.

However, the 10-year milestone can be a good target to aim for, especially with your oldest credit card account, if you’re looking to maximize your credit score. According to FICO scoring data, the typical consumer with a FICO® Score above 800 opened their average revolving credit account 140 months ago (just under 12 years). Even the youngest 15% of the 800-plus club has an average age of 105 months (nearly nine years) for a revolving credit account.

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Why does keeping your credit cards open help so much?

There are a couple of reasons why consumers with high credit scores tend to have long-established credit card accounts. And despite a popular misconception, it has nothing to do with the age of the consumer — in fact, age is one factor that cannot be considered when determining a credit score.

The main reason is the “length of credit history” category of information, which makes up 15% of your FICO® Score. This includes several time-related factors, such as the average age of all of your credit accounts and the age of your oldest open account. Keeping the same credit accounts open for many years can be a big positive influence on your score.

Of course, you still need to exhibit responsible behavior with your credit cards if you want to maximize your credit score. The biggest FICO-scoring category — payment history — makes up 35% of your score, and can quickly outweigh the length of credit history category if there’s adverse information. Not surprisingly, 95% of people with scores above 800 have never had a delinquency on their credit report. But a long-established credit account combined with responsible credit behavior can go a long way toward raising your credit score.

In addition, the second most influential factor in your credit score is the amounts you owe, which makes up 30% of your score. Keeping your credit card accounts open for over a decade can help this category indirectly.

Think of it this way. If you have total credit limits of $10,000 and owe $1,000, you are using 10% of your available credit. If you close an old, unused credit card that has a $2,500 limit, you’re now using over 13% of your credit. By keeping older accounts open, even if you don’t use them regularly, it can help keep your credit utilization lower.

It isn’t always the right move

To be sure, it isn’t the best idea to keep every credit card open for a decade or longer. And if you don’t use your credit card account regularly, it isn’t uncommon for the bank to close it for inactivity (this has happened to me twice in the past year). So, if you want to keep an old credit card open, be sure to use it at least occasionally.

Having said that, there are some very good reasons to close a credit card, even though doing so could cause a slight drop in your credit score. For example, if you are paying an annual fee for a travel credit card, and don’t feel that the benefits of holding the card are worth the cost, it can certainly be a smart idea to get rid of it.

The bottom line is that maximizing your credit score is important, but it isn’t the only factor to consider when deciding if you should keep a credit card open.

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