Mr. A is unusual in this day and age of credit card debt. He’s dealt on a cash only basis for most of his life. That means he doesn’t even show up at the credit rating companies.
One of our goals for this year is to build Mr. A’s credit.
I asked my banker what we can do to get things started. I explained when I began building my credit back in 1984, I got a secured loan for $500 and paid it off. That, and paying my utility bills on time started me off on a good foot. My credit scores are pretty high. I last checked my numbers in September, and should check my ratings again soon, to see if marrying Mr. A had a deleterious effect on my ratings.
She said that is a great way to begin building credit, so last week we took $600 of our savings (money we are saving for upcoming bills) and opened a secured account for him.
He will use the card for gasoline, and we will pay it in full every month. It should be effortless to build credit for him. My banker suggested we ask that the account be switched to a non-secured account by the end of the year.
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