How Is Credit Age Calculated?
Credit scoring models consider three aspects of credit age: the age of your oldest account, the age of your newest account, and the average age of all accounts. Older accounts help all three metrics. The average age of accounts is particularly sensitive to new account openings — adding a new card pulls down the average immediately. Accounts you have closed in good standing typically remain on your report for ten years, still contributing to your credit age.
Why Does Credit Age Matter to Lenders?
A long credit history demonstrates sustained financial responsibility over time. Lenders view borrowers with decades of clean payment records very differently from those with only one or two years of history. Someone who has managed credit responsibly for fifteen years has proven their behavior across economic cycles, life changes, and varying financial pressures — providing much stronger evidence of reliability than a short track record.
How Can You Protect Your Credit Age?
Avoid closing your oldest credit card accounts, especially if they carry no annual fee. Even if you rarely use them, keeping them open maintains your credit age and available credit limit. If you must close a card — say, to avoid a fee — close a newer account instead. Use old accounts periodically so issuers do not close them for inactivity. A small monthly charge plus autopay is enough to keep accounts active.
Frequently asked questions
Does closing an old credit card hurt your credit age?
Closing a card removes it from your average age calculation eventually, but the account typically remains on your report for ten years, still counting toward your oldest account age. The immediate impact of closing is usually on credit utilization (losing available limit) rather than age, but both matter. Avoid closing old accounts when possible.
How long does it take to build good credit age?
Generally, a credit history of seven or more years is considered good, and fifteen or more years is excellent. You cannot rush the passage of time — credit age builds only through maintaining accounts responsibly over years. Starting early and keeping your oldest accounts open indefinitely is the only strategy.