Choose the right number of credit cards
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Choose the right number of credit cards
Ivan from Manhattan, NY sent us a question that had us a bit conflicted.
He’s a credit card rewards addict and wants to consider opening up more credit cards. He doesn’t carry any balances on any of his cards and has a credit score of 770, but is wondering if 10 or 15 credit cards is credit overkill. The answer?
It depends.
We know, we know … it’d be nice if decisions like these were more definitive.
David Lazararus says he’d be happy if Ivan dropped down to three cards.
Farnoosh Torabi says as long as he paid off his credit cards in full, going for the full amount of cards he wanted was fine.
John Ulzheimer from Mint and SmartCredit.com said his magic number is five.
The biggest thing you should keep track of is paying off your card in full and on time. Cash back and rewards points can add up, but if adding more credit cards will make that too hard to track, it’s not worth it.
And picking the right credit card is important, too. Check out NerdWallet‘s comparison tool if you want to make sure you’re getting the right card for your needs.
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