Maintaining a good credit mix means you're responsibly using multiple types of credit, such as credit cards, retail accounts, home loans, and/or car loans. Credit-scoring models basically like to see that consumers can handle more than just a simple retail account at their favorite clothing store.
But what happens as you get older and you begin to pay off those home and auto loans? Will you be penalized by the FICO credit-scoring model for no longer carrying anything other than revolving credit? After all, your credit mix does account for 10 percent of your FICO score.
While watching your credit mix is important for younger adults with less credit history, seniors with extensive credit histories shouldn't be too concerned. It's a minor issue, and a few points might be lost from the credit score, but it's not worth taking on more installment debt for the benefit of your FICO score alone.
Focus on the other more important factors in your FICO scores, such as maintaing positive payment history and a low credit utilization ratio, and your FICO scores should be just fine.
