Pay Dirt is Slate’s money advice column. Have a question? Send it to Kristin and Ilyce here. (It’s anonymous!)
Dear Pay Dirt,
My husband and I recently paid off our car loan early. It was the last piece of debt we had. We did so to prepare for our second child and to purchase a larger car. We ended up selling/exchanging our car for a slightly older car, so we were also able to make a profit even while paying off our car loan. But then something unexpected happened.
My credit score dropped 50 points on Experian, from the 800s to the 700s. Reviewing my credit report, the only change was the loan payoff, which was listed as positive! I only have two credit cards: a bank card with a spend limit of $45,000 and…