Sara Rathner is a NerdWallet travel and credit cards expert. She has appeared on the “Today” show and CNBC’s “Nightly Business Report,” and has been quoted in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Yahoo Finance, Time, Reuters, NBC News, Business Insider and MarketWatch. Before joining NerdWallet, Sara worked at The Motley Fool for nearly 10 years. She also worked as a freelance personal finance writer and paraplanner and has a bachelor's degree in journalism from Northwestern University.
Assigning Editor Kenley Young
Assigning Editor | Credit cards, credit scores
Kenley Young directs daily credit cards coverage for NerdWallet. Previously, he was a homepage editor and digital content producer for Fox Sports, and before that a front page editor for Yahoo. He has decades of experience in digital and print media, including stints as a copy desk chief, a wire editor and a metro editor for the McClatchy newspaper chain.
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When you’re retired and seeking a new credit card , there’s one field on the application that might give you pause: the field where you state your annual income.
Without a periodic paycheck, answering that question gets a little more complicated, especially if you’re concerned that you no longer earn enough to qualify for the card you want.
But other sources of income count, too. Here’s what you can include in a credit card application when you’re retired.
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You’ve ditched the 9-to-5, but if you continue to earn income from freelance or part-time jobs, that counts. You can combine your total earnings from these sources with the other acceptable income sources listed below.
Withdrawals from your retirement accounts count as income, as do Social Security benefits. You can also include earnings from investments, as well as interest and dividends.
Plus, if you own a rental property, your earnings from that venture are also valid income sources.
If your spouse or partner is still working, you can include their income on your credit card application. Thanks to a 2013 amendment to the 2009 Card Act, applicants ages 21 and up can list income they have “reasonable expectation of access to” — meaning a spouse's or partner’s wages that you can access to pay bills. This also includes money you may receive from other family members who help support you financially.
You can also include alimony, child support and separate maintenance from an ex-spouse, but this isn’t required. However, it’s an option if you intend to rely on these funds for bill payment.
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Sara is a NerdWallet travel and credit cards expert. She has appeared on the “Today” show, Nasdaq and CNBC’s “Nightly Business Report.” See full bio.
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