Spouse’s Credit History

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slippinsurlies
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Spouse’s Credit History

Post by slippinsurlies »

A couple of years ago, I married a European and now we live in the USA. She had no credit history and no credit score. She’d never had a credit card before I added her as an authorized user on a couple of mine. My credit score is 801. We have 0 debt and pay our credit cards off in-full every month. Basically just using the card to take in an extra 2% cash on things I was going to need to buy anyway.

I have it in my mind that it would be a good idea for her to get her own credit card (not just be an authorized user on one of mine). The goal is to build her good credit history. So that in 5-10 years when we wanna buy a house, we both have good records.

She wouldn’t actually use the card for anything except 1 or 2 transactions a year just to keep the line active.

Is there any merit to this idea?
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Staythecourse123
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Re: Spouse’s Credit History

Post by Staythecourse123 »

yes, for a lot of reasons. Not to bring up a sad topic but in the event of some kind of personal tragedy, you would want your spouse to have their own credit history too (they can’t ‘inherit’ yours.)
Tom_T
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Re: Spouse’s Credit History

Post by Tom_T »

One thing I used to do to get my college-age kids up and running with a credit history. They'd get a card that was easy for college students to get (like Discover.) Then, I'd use that card to pay certain monthly expenses, like the cable bill, and autopay it. That way, the account starts to build up a history with a nominal level of charges. Once my kids graduated and had jobs (and expenses), they would take over, or even get a new card with a signup bonus.
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Beachey
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Re: Spouse’s Credit History

Post by Beachey »

As an authorized user on your cards, you might be surprised what your spouse's credit score is even now. It probably is in the 700's. Though a secured credit card only in her name is a good first step to building her individual credit history.

The one thing you will find is because her SSN is so new, it can be difficult for her to get credit even as a co-signer with you. For things like mortgages and auto loans, adding her as a co-signer will significantly complicate the process. For the first 7 or 8 years, my wife was not on any of our loans or mortgages since it was the difference between being instantly approved and a long drawn-out process.
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ResearchMed
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Re: Spouse’s Credit History

Post by ResearchMed »

Staythecourse123 wrote: Mon Mar 20, 2023 1:53 am yes, for a lot of reasons. Not to bring up a sad topic but in the event of some kind of personal tragedy, you would want your spouse to have their own credit history too (they can’t ‘inherit’ yours.)

OP, at least for this possibility, you really should help her get started with her own credit/credit cards. Not just the credit score... her *own* credit cards.
If that needs to start with a guaranteed card (you guarantee it; this is different from authorized user, IF they still have such a thing?) or a very low limit card, perhaps with a deposit... just get it started.

Once she gets a card, have her a bit later get a second card, so there's a backup if one card is compromised.
Then... have her use them. If necessary, put some of your household expenses on "her" card, so there is a decent usage history.

There are other reasons, but this one is compelling... just in case.

I don't know if she has her "own" income, but many cards (most? all?) allow one to put household income on the application.

As Staythecourse123 mentioned, should something happen to you, "something" will also happen to all of the credit cards that are in your name. "Authorized user" won't matter anymore.

RM
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student
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Re: Spouse’s Credit History

Post by student »

Yes. I have that's a good idea. A good place to start is AMEX. If your spouse has a AMEX Card from Europe, one can call a number (or at least used to be) to request a "transfer" so that a card can be issued in the US. If not, AMEX is still a good place to start. It is relatively easy to get its green card as they want your annual fee (at least it used to be).
Bikes4life
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Re: Spouse’s Credit History

Post by Bikes4life »

My wife's credit was in the tanker due to 2 long outstanding discrepancies (late payments she forgot about) that we addressed and limited credit history in general from paying debit card mostly.

We put her on the 0% car loan 5 years ago. Aside from that she didn't have much.

This is what we did last year:

- I added her as an authorized user to my card

-Got her a secured card because they would not give her a non secured card.

-Kept her card spending to below 30% and paid off in full every month.

-Gradated her to a regular card after 8 months I believe

-Once graduated, bumped the credit limit up while keeping her utilization rate low.

Just recently she also got 2 dings off her score from being over 7 years old

I just checked today and she has an 842 score, so doing that definitely helped.

I have busted my butt to average 850 by not having a single ding on my report ever. Not even a late payment and never less than paying every bill in full and she gets an 842 with basicallya year or 2 of due diligence. Crazy.
I was thinking maybe 780 lol
Last edited by Bikes4life on Mon Mar 20, 2023 10:13 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jack FFR1846
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Re: Spouse’s Credit History

Post by Jack FFR1846 »

You didn't mention if your wife is also working. If not, adding her on a mortgage will not help. Your total household income is no higher. If yes, then sure, it'll help.

Something to also do would be to set up a credit card through your credit union. (you do use a credit union, don't you?) I did this with my son. By himself, they'd give him something like a $300 credit limit. With me as a co-owner, it started at $1000 and soon after, he was able to raise it to $10,000. At that point, he got a couple other cards to both build up his credit limit and get sign on bonuses and % cash back.
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slippinsurlies
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Re: Spouse’s Credit History

Post by slippinsurlies »

Is it at all important that the card has a regular history of usage?

For example, do I need to setup some token $15/m expense with that card? Then have that auto-paid every month in perpetuity?

Or is it sufficient to continue to use my card for all our monthly expenses and her card only gets 1 or 2 charges per year? (Just enough to ensure that the card issuer doesn’t close the line for lack of activity.)
There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots, but there are no old bold pilots.
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ResearchMed
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Re: Spouse’s Credit History

Post by ResearchMed »

slippinsurlies wrote: Mon Mar 20, 2023 9:14 pm Is it at all important that the card has a regular history of usage?

For example, do I need to setup some token $15/m expense with that card? Then have that auto-paid every month in perpetuity?

Or is it sufficient to continue to use my card for all our monthly expenses and her card only gets 1 or 2 charges per year? (Just enough to ensure that the card issuer doesn’t close the line for lack of activity.)

Why *not* give "her card" a good usage pattern... you can handle it as though it's one of your own, right? Just pay it off the same way.
Is there a reason you do not want to have "her card" get regular use?

RM
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slippinsurlies
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Re: Spouse’s Credit History

Post by slippinsurlies »

ResearchMed wrote: Mon Mar 20, 2023 9:41 pm
slippinsurlies wrote: Mon Mar 20, 2023 9:14 pm Is it at all important that the card has a regular history of usage?

For example, do I need to setup some token $15/m expense with that card? Then have that auto-paid every month in perpetuity?

Or is it sufficient to continue to use my card for all our monthly expenses and her card only gets 1 or 2 charges per year? (Just enough to ensure that the card issuer doesn’t close the line for lack of activity.)

Why *not* give "her card" a good usage pattern... you can handle it as though it's one of your own, right? Just pay it off the same way.
Is there a reason you do not want to have "her card" get regular use?

RM
Even though I have 4 cards, I run all our expenses through just 1 of them. Mostly for 2 reasons. The simplicity of only having to keep a close eye on 1 card (and at my main banking institution). Also, I do everything on a 2% cash back card because I prefer cash to points and because spreading out “rewards” doesn’t pay off as well.

But yeah. If it comes to it, I’ll just manage her card if she doesn’t wanna do it. Not a huge burden.
There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots, but there are no old bold pilots.
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ram
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Re: Spouse’s Credit History

Post by ram »

slippinsurlies wrote: Mon Mar 20, 2023 1:02 am
I have it in my mind that it would be a good idea for her to get her own credit card.
Yes

She wouldn’t actually use the card for anything except 1 or 2 transactions a year just to keep the line active.
Recommend you put one or 2 monthly bills on it.
Many years ago I had an excellent credit score. Then I left the country for 2 years for an overseas assignment.
On the second or third day of my return the phone company denied me a $300 flip phone as my credit score was not good enough. I deposited $1000 with them and bought the phone for cash. After 1 yr my credit score was again excellent and they refunded me my money.
Ram
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