 TITLE: Should I Pay Off My Mortgage Early? CONTENT: What About Your Credit Scores?\n------------------------------\nThere likely won't be any dramatic change in your credit score as a consequence of closing out your mortgage loan. While closing credit card accounts can hurt your credit score (by reducing the total amount available to you to borrow), closing a mortgage has very little effect. Like paid-off student loans and auto loans, a mortgage that's paid in full will remain on your credit reports at the three national credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion) for 10 years as a \"closed account in good standing.\"\nAt the end of that 10-year period, if you haven't established any new mortgage accounts, your credit scores may diminish slightly as a result of reduced credit mix—the combination of different loan types credit scoring models see as a sign of a well-rounded credit user. But as long as your other credit accounts (credit cards, car loans and the like) are up to date and continue to be paid on time, your score will also tend to have risen over those 10 years, reflecting greater experience as a credit manager. So while there are many factors to consider when deciding about paying your mortgage off early, your credit score need not be one of them.\nIf you have an opportunity to pay off your mortgage early, congratulations. If you consider that option and its potential consequences carefully, you can make the right decision for your financial future. END