Yes, welcome back!

Meya! I miss you! Its been quiet without you! Welcome back to FG!

Wow, you gave more information than I ever thought of. Thanks so much! You have brighten the dark cloud that was hanging over my head. My landlord is sorta on her last legs with life, and her daughter made a comment about raising rent due to expenses in regards to the home I currently rent. I know that it is a bunch of crap because I pay outside contractors to perform work inside of my landlord house, when normal tenants will give her the third degree. I was not born yesterday and I can feel the vibes. What she is trying to say is, "When my mom passes away, I am the only child or beneficiary, so therefore I want higher rent. I know that I am going to have to move sooner than I thought, but hopefully it will be after I am successfully employed. I refuse to pay another dime for rent, I want to pay my own mortgage not someone else's. When my time is close, I will be right back in this thread. Thanks again for the valuable information you have provided.

Well, now that I am 41 yrs of age, I am starting to become nervous about purchasing a home. I wonder will the bank consider me a risk at 41 rather than someone purchasing a home at 31 or 21. I have never purchased a home as of yet, but considering to do so in the near future. Will they force the term of my loan to be shortened due to my age? Or will they consider my overall credit qualifications? Just curious!

Not to worry! Mortgage Loan Lenders using FICO Scores will not use age. Today, most will verify alot of information such as income, debt (car loans, credit cards, finance companies, etc), assets (such as money in checking and savings), appraisal on the house and any cash a borrower might cliam as part of the down payment. Depending on the loan type you may qualify as a First Time Home Buyer (first time may be defined as not owning a house in the last three years or so), FHA (3.75% down in cash with a FICO Score of 620 plus unless you have lower FICO Scores where the amount could reach 10% cash down with 580 FICO Score), VA (as low as 0% down with full entitlements and other requirements), USDA Rural Development Loan (may be 0% down with a FICO Score of 620 and greater and note there are many other ways you can maximize such a loan - note there are certain geographic restrictions due to median household incomes for an area), Conventional (usually 20% down), depends on your geographic area for loan types and availability. Take me, I purchased a house as a retiree and used a 30 year fixed rate mortgage at 4.375% interest using a USDA Rural Development Loan (note never heard of it before) on a 1950's house. So, you may find more options than you expected. A local realtor could help you explore your options. What made me buy was the cost of rent and apartment/townhouse management companies just weren't cutting it. I wanted my own place and had not owned a house since 1987 (rented the whole time).

As to effects of age and "retirement" status... I found no different treatment from lenders, they ask for verifiables for income sources, debt and the same information as some one working. I have openned four prime credit cards (Citi, FNBO, Discover, USAA) with the lowest offered interest rates since retiring as well as a quality home loan rate (from 2010). In short, I haven't seen any difference in how I was treated other than better quality cards and terms.

Well, now that I am 41 yrs of age, I am starting to become nervous about purchasing a home. I wonder will the bank consider me a risk at 41 rather than someone purchasing a home at 31 or 21. I have never purchased a home as of yet, but considering to do so in the near future. Will they force the term of my loan to be shortened due to my age? Or will they consider my overall credit qualifications? Just curious!

Thanks Wanderer, just wondering. I thought the positive for a retiree would be a long history of good credit while age would be a dark cloud. Good to know....

Good Morning all

Interesting topic. As for myself, landed a 30 year fixed rate mortgage, purchased a new vehicle the same year as the house all in retirement and no problem. Remember, there is a requirement to NOT discriminate on... age is one of the items! Now, the house is collateral for the mortgage and the car is collateral for the loan (same as everyone else). Credit cards are generally unsecured. Note, they did consider my sources of income including a part-time job. Earnings (verifiable) had to support purchase. Also, new cc's not a problem.

Good Morning all:

Been on this site for awhile and I have never seen a thread dealing with credit as you get older. Once someone retires ( which I think might be never for a lot of us ) how do lenders treat you when applying for credit ? Obviously your now on a set income and your life expectancy is "x" number of years are you discriminated against when applying for any long term loan ? Does collateral come into the picture, i.e. investments, CD's, etc., when say you want to buy a high end card and your in your late 60's ?

If you have a 700+ credit score as you retire is it more difficult / easy to maintain that score in retirement ? Will lenders let you cosign a loan in retirement ? If you apply for a credit card in retirement do most lenders open the account with a lower credit limit although you have a stellar credit score because of your age ?