It may be added there is no such thing as the average age of credit card accounts. The term AAoA includes both revolving and installment accounts. I have never closed a credit card, which is pretty much a bragging right only, since my credit reports list various closed mortgages and loans.

With a robust credit portfolio, it doesn’t matter much having a closed account drop off occasionally. The trick is leaving some open forever, preferably no annual fee cards. If I remember correctly, an AAoA of minimum eight years takes your FICO score well into the 800s.

Let’s say you open one card every year and close it a year later to avoid the annual fee. With a new card on the ten year day, your AAoA is 5.0 years, (10+9+8+7+6+5+4+3+2+1+0)/11. And that’s how it’s going to stay every year thereafter. A five year AAoA is not bad, but it’s an effort to take it to eight years, say five cards five years earlier, (15+15+15+15+15+10+9+8+7+6+5+4+3+2+1+0)/16.