Should I Update My Income With a Credit Card Company if I’m Retired? – Technologist

Have you recently received a request to update your income information from your bank or credit card issuer?

It’s a common occurrence these days. And retired people perhaps have the most difficult time discerning how to respond to this request.

They’re left wondering things like: Should I tell them I’m retired? And, if I do, how do I accurately tell them my income?

The short answer is: In the case of retirees, you probably shouldn’t respond at all.

This differs from the guidance money expert Clark Howard typically gives non-retired people. He has his reasons, though.

Clark has been fielding questions about updating income information for years. In fact, he gave advice to a retiree about this exact situation during a recent episode of The Clark Howard Podcast. I also recently spoke to him about this topic in an off-camera discussion.

This article will combine the advice from both conversations to give you the best idea of how to move forward if you receive one of these notices from your credit card issuer.

Ask Clark: Should Retirees Update Their Income with Credit Card Issuers?

During a recent episode of his podcast, Clark was asked the following question:

Beth in Idaho asks: “Clark has stated it’s important to update income information when it’s requested by credit companies. I’m retired, and due to good luck and Clark’s advice I have enough assets to meet my needs. But I do not have an income, per se, except for Social Security. How should I respond to these income verification requests?”

Clark’s response to Beth is what the majority of retired people need to hear about this topic:

“You ignore them,” Clark said. “You only want to give good news to a bank. Never bad news.”

Remember, these are voluntary requests for updated income information. You’re not required to respond. And, as Clark points out, it’s likely in the interest of Beth and other retirees to avoid responding.

“If you let a bank know that your income has declined, they may decide they’re not really interested in you anymore. And they send you away,” Clark said. “So, it’s better for you to not report your income.”

Clark says if you’re paying your credit card bills and keeping your credit score healthy, you should be just fine.

“They’re going to leave you alone as long as your credit score is good and your utilization — the percent of available credit you’re using — is low,” Clark said.

Are There Instances in Which Retirees Could Want To Update Income?

We’ve established that most retired people should avoid answering these voluntary income update requests.

But you may have heard Clark recommend going through with the update to non-retirees. Why is that?

Clark tells people who have maintained or increased their income that it’s OK to update the information because it will reassure the credit issuer and could also unlock some new opportunities. Those could include potential credit limit increases that can boost your spending power and credit score, or perhaps new offers for better rewards credit cards.

During a recent discussion with Clark, I posed the question: Is there ever a time that a retiree would want to do this as well?

“If they’re retired and they have reasonable streams of income that they think would look good to the bank, it’s fine to update it,” Clark says.

Clark indicated someone who might fall into that category would have multiple streams of income from some of the following:

• Social Security
• Pension plan
• Retirement investments
• Insurance payout

If you don’t fall into that category, you’re best following the original advice of avoidance.

Are you retired and have a credit card company requesting income updates? We’d love to hear how things have played out for you in the Clark.com community.

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