Length of credit history.

In plain English

Length of credit history measures the age of your credit accounts: how long your oldest account has been open, the average age of all of them, and how long since you last used each one. Scoring models reward a longer track record because it gives lenders more evidence of how you handle credit over time. This is one reason closing your oldest credit card can quietly hurt you, since it can lower your average account age. Time is the main ingredient here, and there is no shortcut to it.

01Why it matters

Because age helps your score and you cannot rush it, keeping your oldest account open and active is one of the simplest long-term moves you can make for your credit.

02The math, step by step

Say your oldest card is one you opened at 19 and barely use. You think about closing it at 27 to declutter. But that card is the anchor of your length of credit history. Keeping it open, with a small recurring charge like a $10 subscription paid off each month, preserves years of account age that you can never get back once it is gone.

03What this is NOT

04Receipts

Every figure on this page is sourced to a primary document. Tap to open the original.