Q&A: $30K Tax Refund, Real Estate vs. Stock Market & Rebuilding Credit
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Hey everyone, and welcome back to the Rich Habits Podcast, a top 10 business podcast on Spotify brought to you by public.com. This is our Thursday question and answer edition episode, which means we sit here for half an hour, 45 minutes, whatever it turns into, Robert, and we answer your questions as if we were going through whatever you're going through. You can ask us questions on Instagram at richhabitspodcast or email us your questions at richhabitspodcast at gmail.com.
Yes, we love these episodes and they have been getting better and better because you guys are just really laying it all out to us. Personal finances, personal, giving us all those heartfelt questions about your own situation. So we love filming these episodes.
So our first question comes from Khalil. Khalil says, I got a question for you guys. And of course, this was on Instagram. Again, send us a DM there on Instagram. Khalil says, first, here's some context. I'm 31 years old with 13 years of credit history behind me. All but one of my cards, I've had at least 10 years. I worked hard this past year to pay off all of my credit card debt, which was about $12,000. And at 13 years with no missed payments and 0% utilization, my credit score was 8%. 112 and rising here's my predicament though i was unaware that one of my cards implemented a monthly service charge at some point over the years so once i paid the card off i forgot about it only to find out a couple months later that i had missed a payment my score dropped 99 points according to credit karma this was back in january i hate that i got that big of a hit over a 20 bill essentially so here's my question
Should I try to get that hit taken off my record with a goodwill letter? Should I close the card? It's not my oldest card, but it is a 10 year old plus account and it has the lowest limit of all of them. I listened to the episode today about credit cards and it really got me thinking. Thanks y'all so much for your insight. Robert, if you're going through this with Khalil right now, you just got your credit score hit by what was it here? 99 points. You went from 812 to 713 and you were really upset about it. What would you do?
Well, I did go through this about three years ago, different, not with a credit card, but with a car trade in. I traded in a car for a new car, same dealership and flipped out of the lease into the new lease. And somehow they forgot to pay off the car. So like three months later, I get a notice that I missed two payments and my credit score was down like a hundred and some points. And so in this instance, similar to the car, the first thing I would do is two things. Do not get rid of the credit card. Don't close it out. Keep the card. And first and foremost, before you write the goodwill letter, just call them up. Get on the customer service. Say, hey, here's what happened. I didn't know about this. How can I get this off my credit?
I am sure for such a low amount, they will definitely take it off. It might take a month or two to get off and get your credit score back up, but don't get rid of the credit card because you've taken so long to build it up, and that 10-year window is really great. So I would keep the card, do the call first, and if that doesn't work, then do the goodwill letter, and I'm sure you'll be just fine.
Yeah, I really think the goodwill letter is a good idea. No pun intended. Definitely use chat GPT, Gemini, Claude, things of that nature to make sure that you're actually including all the appropriate information. So when the company you send this letter to looks at it, they know who you are. They know about the mispayment. They understand all the background information so they can take action on your behalf. Pro tip. i would also send this goodwill letter via certified mail which means you can confirm that the company actually received the letter and it's not just a stamp and it you know goes off to who knows where it goes right so certified mail use ai ai is going to help you write this and make sure you include the right necessary things and i agree with robert i don't think you should close this card i think this card with over a decade of credit history is only going
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–4:33
2
What credit repair steps should I take after a 99‑point drop from a $20 missed fee?
4:33–14:18
3
How do you write an effective goodwill letter and should you use AI to draft it?
14:18–23:52
4
Should I use my 529 to pay tuition or preserve it to roll into a Roth IRA later?
23:52–30:47
5
How can parents use 529s and Invest America accounts to jumpstart generational wealth?
30:47–40:55
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from Rich Habits Podcast
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