'I draw from my IRA as needed for household repairs, trips and other larger expenses'

"I have an excellent credit score - between 825 and 850, depending on the source - and my house is paid off." (Photo subject is a model.)

Dear Quentin,

A bit of an odd question.

I retired eight months ago and have a regular defined-benefit pension, Roth IRA, traditional IRA and other investments. I haven't started collecting Social Security yet. My gross pension is about one-third of my previous salary, but it's still enough to cover my everyday expenses.

I draw from my IRA as needed for household repairs, trips and other larger expenses. I have an excellent credit score - between 825 and 850, depending on the source - and my house is paid off. My car will be paid off in a few months. My credit reports are currently frozen.

A couple of months ago, I applied for a store credit card to take advantage of a 40% discount the retailer was offering to anyone who applied. I knew my application wouldn't be approved because my credit reports were frozen. It doesn't seem fair.

Credit-card applications ask for your income, but they don't seem to take into account your employment status or overall ability to pay. A retiree may appear to have a relatively low income because much of their financial resources are in savings and investments.

Many retirees have substantial assets and plenty of resources to pay their bills. So how should someone in my situation report their income on a credit-card application? How can I accurately report my financial situation so that it makes sense to the lender?

Comfortably Retired

Related: I'm $28,000 in debt. My credit score is suffering. How do I get out of this mess?

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

Income matters up to a point, but your complex payment history is the most important factor in credit scoring.

Dear Comfortable,

Being refused a credit card feels personal.

It feels even more personal if it's your favorite store. If you have a reasonable income, there's no reason you should be refused a card, as long as you have a credit history that shows you have a good record of paying your bills. However, retail cards often have their own underwriting standards, so the issuers may decline your application based on your income, if it's modest.

But retirees like you do have a lot of leeway in how they report their income to a credit-card company. You can include your pension, Social Security, investment returns and estimate your monthly IRA/401(k) withdrawals over a 12-month period. Freelancers' incomes also vary from month to month, so they are looking for a relatively accurate estimate.

Income matters up to a point, but your complex payment history is the most important factor in credit scoring. That goes for TransUnion TRU, Equifax EFX and Experian EXPGY. Being 90 days late on a credit-card payment can cause a severe drop in your score, and it can remain on your credit report for up to seven years.

It may be no bad thing that you were declined for this retail card. Retail credit cards usually charge higher interest rates than regular credit cards, Experian says. They also tend to charge higher fees for cash advances or foreign transactions, and late payments. "If you have good credit, you can easily find a credit card with a lower APR than you can get from a store card."

Your accounts with the credit bureaus "were" or "had been" frozen? Credit freezes limit authorized access to your credit reports, so they can complicate approval of an application, Experian adds. "The national credit bureaus will activate and deactivate a credit freeze for free upon request. You must contact each bureau separately to freeze your respective credit report."

Related: I was a slave to credit-card debt, then I got laid off and turned my life around. Here's how I did it.

High credit-utilization score

A big red flag for companies: A high credit-utilization score suggests to lenders that you may be a higher risk. As a new customer, the company is under no obligation to take a risk on your creditworthiness. Even if you have, say, a $10,000 credit limit on your existing credit card and you spend $8,000 a month, you would still be using 80% of your credit utilization.

Experts recommend keeping your credit-utilization ratio below 30%. If you have an overall limit of $1,000 and you use $250 of it, for instance, your credit-utilization ratio is 25%. Closing a card will impact your ratio too. The older your credit, the better risk you are for lenders, so cancel your newest cards first and, as an aside, prioritize canceling cards with hefty annual fees.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says there are myriad reasons people are either refused a credit card or, just as much a slap in the face with a wet fish, a low credit limit. In addition to income and expenses, companies balk at high balances with other credit cards and if you've been turned down for a card (sorry to be the bearer of bad news).

Credit-card companies need to be mindful about who they extend credit to. The typical American carried an average credit-card balance of $6,600, and credit-card debt in the U.S. has climbed to a record total of $1.26 trillion. With interest rates for credit cards at 20% and higher, that adds up to a lot of money if you don't pay off your debt every month.

Yes, you have an excellent credit score, but the main credit bureaus - Equifax, Transunion and Experian - 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%). So your credit score only plays a part.

Try not to take your refusal personally.

By emailing your questions to The Moneyist or posting your dilemmas on The Moneyist Facebook group, you agree to have them published anonymously on MarketWatch.

More columns from Quentin Fottrell:

'I still don't have my MRI': My health insurer canceled my plan without warning. Is that legal?

'Please don't let this happen to you': My best friend died without a will - her neglectful family gets everything

'He does not have a spouse or children': My son has a serious genetic disease. What should I do with my $1.3 million estate?

Check out The Moneyist's private Facebook group, where members help answer life's thorniest money issues. Post your questions, or weigh in on the latest Moneyist columns.

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-Quentin Fottrell