Questions about my credit score and how my debt/payments affect it

Question

I've been out of college for a couple years and i'm quickly paying off my student loans. I have some loans and other bills I pay every month. I'll provide as many details as I can in order to get as much accuracy as possible!

Student loans - $18k remaining - $1000/month

Car - $22 remaining - $500/month (no interest)

Jet Ski - $12k remaining - $250/month (until student loans are paid off,

And various other bills such as cell phone, ISP, etc, but above are the loans I have. I have never missed any payments. I've paid off one other loan already (engagement ring - $2k). Below you can find some details about my credit score. These details are provided for free through one of my credit card providers (hopefully they are accurate and represent my true credit score?).

Finally for the question. If I continue at this pace, which I definitely plan to, how high will my credit score go and how quickly? My father has told me his score floats around 850 and it doesn't change too much anymore, but he is 56 years old and i'm only 24. I'm curious as to how long it takes to build up such a great credit score? Maybe the answer is to keep old accounts so your credit length goes up and to not miss a payment, but that doesn't tell me how fast my score will continue to go up. My score seems to go up little by little according to the chart above.

Answer 1

If I continue at this pace, which I definitely plan to, how high will my credit score go and how quickly? My father has told me his score floats around 850 and it doesn't change too much anymore, but he is 56 years old and i'm only 24. I'm curious as to how long it takes to build up such a great credit score?

There is no set schedule. People your fathers age (similar to my age) have no idea how long it will take because the FICO score was introduced after we became adults. And it is only recently that people had access to a version of the score on a regular basis.

It will take years for some of the factors to reach their max, while others take just a few months. That also means that some bad items can significantly change the score.

The biggest thing is to keep moving in the same direction, but don't panic when there are short duration drops if you make a big purchase, or if you close an account. Your current score of ~770 is in the Very Good range, so the only thing you can do is wait.

Answer 2

I agree with others. Don't worry too much about your credit score. Just keep up your healthy behaviors on making on-time payments and it'll rise eventually.

If I continue at this pace, which I definitely plan to, how high will my credit score go and how quickly?

Time will tell but it's not just paying off debts completely and closing accounts. It's about showing that you're responsible in managing your debts over time.

To give a frame of reference, I also have a credit history just like you (I'm in my late 20's, no missed payments ever, student debt that I'm aggressively paying down, opened a credit card at 20, etc.) and my credit score is at 808 (hard inquiry result). When I graduated 3 years ago and started paying down my debt, my credit score was around ~700.

Time will tell if I'll go higher but I am beginning to notice the rate of increasing my credit score is growing slower as I make the same payments.

I should also mention that credit scores are meant to fluctuate and go through cyclical cycles. If you need to buy a home/car in the future, don't be afraid to get some inquiries/loans out in your name. You don't need to have a perfect credit score, you just need to qualify for the same rates as the people who have perfect scores. With your credit history, you should already be getting some of the best rates available on certain financial products (assuming you have a nice paying job if you're able to make this monthly upkeep).

These details are provided for free through one of my credit card providers (hopefully they are accurate and represent my true credit score?).

It seems that you're using the Discover tool, I also used that tool and found that it overestimated my real credit score when my credit was inquired. It is different for each person but just as an FYI from my experiences.