MW I am a 65-year-old single woman with 25 credit cards. How do I cancel them without hurting my credit score?

By Quentin Fottrell

'I pay them off each month if I use them and don't run a balance'

"I won't be buying another house, although I might buy a used car in the next few years." (Photo subject is a model.)

Dear Quentin,

I am a 65-year-old single woman. I plan on working for the next 2 to 5 years and the only debt I have is my home. I have a lot of credit cards, but I pay them off each month if I use them and don't run a balance. ?Should I just downsize and keep two credit cards and use those and close all of the others?

I probably have 25 cards - store cards and Visa cards and Mastercards that I've kept for rewards to use for gift cards at Christmas and discounts (5%) or airline miles. I guess I'm getting tired of having all of them and wondered how much it's really going to hurt me credit-score wise, but I guess I'm not sure that it really makes a difference.

I won't be buying another house, although I might buy a used car in the next few years.

Looking for a Life Free of Too Many Credit Cards

You can email The Moneyist with any financial and ethical questions at qfottrell@marketwatch.com. The Moneyist regrets he cannot reply to questions individually.

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Ideally, you want to keep your credit-card usage to credit limit ratio below 30%, but put those rules on hold during this cancellation period.

Dear Too Many,

You're about to get canceled - well, your cards are - and it's going to feel good.

Without knowing much about your day-to-day activities, I'll assume you lead a modest lifestyle. Your credit score will take a hit either way, so you can either decide to go for broke and cancel them all at once, given that you have no intention of taking any loans anytime soon, or do as most financial advisers would recommend and rid yourself of the excess cards gradually. Given that you are a homeowner and have no loans in your future, I don't see a compelling reason to drag this out.

I assume you would benefit from getting rid of the following credit cards: 1) cards that you opened most recently because they have the shortest credit history, 2) cards with high annual fees, unless you're planning to get rid of a card that, say, gives you bountiful travel rewards and you see a lot of globetrotting in your future, 3) cards that have similar points that overlap, 4) cards that are costing you no annual fee and line them up to cancel at a later date and 5) store cards, which can have exorbitant interest.

Ideally, you want to keep your credit-card usage to credit limit ratio of 25% to 30%, but put those rules on hold during this cancellation period. The main credit bureaus - Equifax $(EFX)$, Transunion $(TRU)$ and Experian (UK:EXPN) - calculate their scores differently. A FICO $(FICO)$ score has five categories: payment history (35%), amounts owed (30%), length of credit history (15%), new credit (10%) and credit mix (10%). In other words, FICO values consumers who stay on top of their finances.

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Temporary ding to your credit score

It may take a year or so for your score to recover, so make sure there are no leaky roofs that need attending to first. "It can be good to show lenders that you can successfully manage multiple credit accounts, as they may see this as evidence that you're a reliable borrower," Experian says. "So, cancelling a long-held card could put you at a disadvantage, depending on what the lender is looking for. What's more, cancelling a card may increase your credit utilization - the proportion you use of your available credit - which can also lower your score."

But you're also reducing your chances of being the victim of fraud by slimming down the amount of credit cards to keep track of, so it will be worth it. "Tell the card company, by calling them or putting it in writing, and make sure you've paid off your most recent statement or transferred it to another card first," Experian adds. "You can't cancel a card simply by cutting it up into several pieces, cancelling direct debits, or just not using it any more - this could lead to missed payments."

Members of the Moneyist Facebook Group have tips. One person warns: "Watch out for subscriptions or other automatic payments made from cards you plan to close. Go through your statements and make sure those are canceled or moved, and remember that some subscriptions are annual instead of monthly, so you may need to go through a whole year of statements." On a more macabre note, another makes the point that, assuming you have an executor, you'd be doing them a favor by simplifying your life.

That's as good a reminder as any to enjoy your life to the fullest with the few cards you have left - and continue to pay them off every month.

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-Quentin Fottrell

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September 04, 2025 18:47 ET (22:47 GMT)

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