# Why do credit score companies always choose something around 728 for the person in their ads? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 17, 2017, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-credit-score-companies-always-choose-something-around-728-for-the-person-in-their-ads/796527 "2017-09-17T08:56:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2017, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-credit-score-companies-always-choose-something-around-728-for-the-person-in-their-ads/796527/21 "2017-09-20T01:33:43Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Same reason watches always say 10:08. A little trivia. For decades, analog watches always showed 10:08, when the hands made a perfect V angle… Then when digital watches came along, a bizarre coincidence. On a LED display, 10:08 happens to be the time when the diodes emit the maximum amount of light. There was an old pre-internet urban legend that the time was chosen to commemorate the Lincoln assassination. Most estimates I’ve seen place the gunshot at around 10:15 but close enough. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2017, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-credit-score-companies-always-choose-something-around-728-for-the-person-in-their-ads/796527/22 "2017-09-24T00:25:55Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > I had an 850 for over a year. I definitely don’t have a high paying job. My brother never missed a payment on anything, ever (ratfink is 45 and has also never had a cavity, and got straight As). His credit was around 775 until he started using credit cards in earnest when he moved. He didn’t keep balances on them very long, but he did have balances on them for a few months, and having run them up (but not maxxed them out) and then paid them off over about four months made his credit rating shoot up to 825. He finally hit 850 when he had a long enough credit history. THEN he bought a car on a loan. I told him he should have done that years ago for the credit rating (he moved from Chicago, where you can get around on public transportation, and where he was a college student anyway, to LA, where you MUST have a car). He laughed at me. I am a little better than average when it comes to responsibility with money, but he is a responsibility robot. 'Course, it gets him made executor of our mother’s will, and me just the back-up. Neener-neener. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2017, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-credit-score-companies-always-choose-something-around-728-for-the-person-in-their-ads/796527/23 "2017-09-24T05:02:12Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > What’s magical about that number? It’s not perfect-- in fact, it’s more than 100 points lower than perfect (850), but it’s not what I’d call low… Exactly. Everyone is average. And I don’t understand your comment about knowing what your score is if you’ve never missed a payment. Credit scores don’t work like that. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2017, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-credit-score-companies-always-choose-something-around-728-for-the-person-in-their-ads/796527/24 "2017-09-24T05:07:01Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > The problem is I have no income; I just live off of my savings. I have substantial assets, both cash and property, but they evidently don’t care about that. > > I honestly don’t get it. Which is more likely in this economy — that somebody with little savings but a decent job will lose his job, or that someone with a lot of savings and a lifetime track record of spending conservatively will suddenly blow through a million bucks? I would imagine that most people with significant assets use them to generate income. I’d be a little anxious about spending down savings that is not earning anything. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2017, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-credit-score-companies-always-choose-something-around-728-for-the-person-in-their-ads/796527/25 "2017-09-24T05:10:09Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > One of my cards that gives me my score reported that one of the factors lowering my score was the lack of a recent or active installment loan. So because I don’t have a mortgage and my car was paid off, and I didn’t particularly want a boat, they were knocking off 10 or 20 points. > > But I think we’re also derailing the OP unless we’re all accepting my hypothesis. There are easy hacks for that without buying a boat. Like everything else there are credit forums. Folks at those places all have lists of credit hacks like banks that will give anyone an installment loan that you just turn around and payoff for the credit bump. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2017, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-credit-score-companies-always-choose-something-around-728-for-the-person-in-their-ads/796527/26 "2017-10-05T02:44:47Z")
> [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](#): > > I would imagine that most people with significant assets use them to generate income. I’d be a little anxious about spending down savings that is not earning anything. I just inherited some money. I put 1/2 aside for my son, and put 1/3 into a mutual fund that generates about $150/month. The rest I left in savings, which means I have about $22,000 in savings. That’s a lot, according to my investment analyst, and also my brother, but I really don’t want to have to dip into the mutual fund if I acquire a large bill. I am considering cutting back on my working hours so my son has a parent at home more often (albeit, my memories of being his age suggest that time alone in the house at age 11 are glorious); it means that in addition to spending the $150/month, we would have to dip into the $22,000 if we had an emergency, and would not be able to replenish it without me taking extra hours at work, serious belt-tightening-- or just not worrying about it-- saying, that’s what it was there for. My last car was bought outright, and that felt so good. A car that cost $14,000, actually cost that. So, we have a 2016 car. Our other car is a 2006. It had the clutch replaced 3 years ago, the brakes two years ago, it had the timing belt done when suggested, and has also had the catalytic converter and muffler replaced, about 8 years ago, because it was rear-ended, and we managed to get everything from the exhaust manifold back replaced under insurance. That took some shmuesing of the adjuster, but it was worth it. It also got tires two years ago. Still, it won’t last forever. I have made cars last 20 years, but still, we will be buying another car in the next nine years. I’d rather dip into the $22,000, than have payments. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2017, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-credit-score-companies-always-choose-something-around-728-for-the-person-in-their-ads/796527/27 "2017-10-05T14:44:24Z")
I work for a mortgage company. 720-740 is pretty much the good, but not great score range. Once you get above 740, you won’t really see any real difference at a high score (except for higher risk loans). Once you start dropping below 720, it’s going to start hurting you. So who is Credit Karma advertising toward,? People who are mostly good about their credit but haven’t thought to check it and could use improvement. Using a really low number would be negative, while using a really high number would defeat the purpose of their site. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2017, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-credit-score-companies-always-choose-something-around-728-for-the-person-in-their-ads/796527/28 "2017-10-05T16:08:31Z")
> [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](#): > > I would imagine that most people with significant assets use them to generate income. I’d be a little anxious about spending down savings that is not earning anything. My assets are generating income to the extent possible in this economic environment without risking losing principal. In other words, not much. I have most of my cash in an Ally IRA, which pays about 1.5%, which would have been laughable most of my life, but is ten times better than most banks pay on savings or MM accounts now. My money isn’t taxed until I withdraw it. I’m retired, I own my house and car free and clear, I have modest tastes and don’t like to travel, so I can live comfortably on $20K a year. That means I only have to draw my savings down about $10K a year, and that’s fine, because the more I spend now, the less my minimum required withdrawal will be when I turn 70. 70 is also the age I’ll start taking my social security, and then I actually can’t imagine what I’ll spend it on. Maybe I’ll go on some cruises; that kind of travel seems more appealing than being squished into an airline seat (I’m tall). I’m well aware I could make more by investing in stocks, in fact I made over half a million investing in stocks a few years ago, but I could also lose it, especially with the unpredictability of the Moron in Chief. If I keep going like I am, I am guaranteed to have all the money I need. If I go for more and lose money, I’m not. And since I’m very happy where I am, it would take something like ten million more to significantly improve my situation, i.e. enough money to buy a house on the beach in Hawaii or something. I’m not going to make ten million more no matter what I do, so there’s no point risking it at all. BTW, I did get a new credit card yesterday. When I was looking at TVs at Costco, I saw that they give you a four-year warranty if you use their credit card to buy one. So I applied and just made up a mid-range number for income, because I could easily withdraw that much for 20 years if I had to. As I hoped, they accepted it without checking, looked at my credit score, and instantly approved it. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2017, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-credit-score-companies-always-choose-something-around-728-for-the-person-in-their-ads/796527/29 "2017-10-05T18:27:37Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > …if you have never missed a payment, you know what your score is… My scores fluctuate from _day to day_ with my credit card balance - I pay them all off at the end of the month, but use them for every transaction to maximize rewards points. My score is also going to drop considerably in the next few months when I pay off my car, because that will no longer be listed as an open account, and again to an even greater degree when I pay off my student loans (hopefully sometime next year). None of these fluctuations have anything to do with missed payments. ---
**Author:** ![WildBlueYonder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ce7236/32.png) [@WildBlueYonder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildBlueYonder)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-credit-score-companies-always-choose-something-around-728-for-the-person-in-their-ads/796527/30 "2017-10-06T10:46:23Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > I if you have never missed a payment, you know what your score is All my bills are on time and over minimum required but our credit rating sucks. Always will. Credit bureaus suck and they have the most stupid guidelines and will probably get worse! > [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > My scores fluctuate from _day to day_ with my credit card balance - I pay them all off at the end of the month, but use them for every transaction to maximize rewards points. > > My score is also going to drop considerably in the next few months when I pay off my car, because that will no longer be listed as an open account, and again to an even greater degree when I pay off my student loans (hopefully sometime next year). > > None of these fluctuations have anything to do with missed payments. I know its how it works but why should your credit rating drop because of fluctuating payments/debts if they are not putting you further into debt?? Sounds like you should have a great rating ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-credit-score-companies-always-choose-something-around-728-for-the-person-in-their-ads/796527/31 "2017-10-06T14:18:19Z")
Because they affect your debt/credit ratio. People who have, say, $500,000 in available credit but are only using $100,000 of it are assumed to be relatively likely to pay back loans. People with $30,000 in credit and $25,000 in debt are not, even though they owe less in absolute terms. Debt/credit ratio is calculated as a snapshot in time, not as a trend. So one’s credit score goes up and down with one’s credit card balances, even if those balances are faithfully paid off every month. It’s not a big deal; if I wanted to buy a car or get a mortgage or do something else that required a high score, I’d just pay off the cards a couple of days before the lender makes the credit inquiry (or just pay for things in cash/debit/whatever that month). ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-credit-score-companies-always-choose-something-around-728-for-the-person-in-their-ads/796527/32 "2017-10-06T22:08:18Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > It’s not a big deal; if I wanted to buy a car or get a mortgage or do something else that required a high score, I’d just pay off the cards a couple of days before the lender makes the credit inquiry (or just pay for things in cash/debit/whatever that month). It takes a while for stuff to clear the credit companies. Better plan on paying everything off like, at least 7 weeks before you plan to apply for that mortgage or car loan. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-credit-score-companies-always-choose-something-around-728-for-the-person-in-their-ads/796527.md?page=1)