Just paid off several credit cards. I was wondering if I should cancel the cards and reduce my exposure or keep the cards in the event there is a tightening of credit availability to ensure that I have a credit line available.

What is the downside to keeping the credit lines open?

-- loveitinthecountry (marshall2@iname.com), November 14, 1999

Answers

Personally, I rocommend going into credit and not paying it off until after y2k. Not that I'm 100% sure that you will not have to pay it off, but this is the only time in any of our lifetimes that you will be able to make such a gamble. If I said to you, I will give you $5000 which you have to spend, but here's the condition...there is a 50% chance you will not have to pay me back, would you take the money? HELL YES!!

-- garySOUTH (doomer@big.time), November 14, 1999.

Well, actually I only consolidated the credit cards into one fixed rate loan. The debt is not paid off by any stretch of the imagination, just a lower interest rate. I was just looking for the downside to having open credit cards with no balance. I am inclined to keep them open in case I need some fast cash.

Thanks for the word! I agree, if my debt were to get lost in the sauce after rollover, I don't think I'd be crying too much ;)

-- loveitinthecountry (marshall2@iname.com), November 14, 1999.

Keep them. But I question your premise. Why bother paying them off? Hell, I haven't even paid any TAXES this year. What are the chances the IRS will be collecting in April? As for credit cards, I have nearly maxed them with prep expenses. My advice, borrow with cash advances on the cards, convert to gold/silver coin and small currency bills, and play the odds. Either you'll be rich next year, or you'll have to pay back 2% plus your CC rate for a few months. Not a bad gamble.

-- StanTheMan (heidrich@presys.com), November 15, 1999.

Don't run up what you can't afford to pay off, it might not happen. However... I'm spending my earned capital at the moment, but I'm just about at the point where I'm going to go to the credit cards. I'm not going to spend more than I've actually earned, and I'm trying to balance the risk of a loss of my earned capital against the reward of getting "free" credit.

Oh, it might be an idea to get as many sources of credit as possible to protect yourself against isolated or slow cascading collapses in the finance industry.

-- Colin MacDonald (roborogerborg@yahoo.com), November 15, 1999.

loveitinthecountry:

"What is the downside to keeping the credit lines open?"

Good question. I'd say greater exposure to corrupted information, that can screw up your credit status until you can work out the problems. These days that can take a LONG time, imagine the next couple of years!

Keep good records.

-- flora (***@__._), November 15, 1999.