Answer: Closing accounts won’t help your credit scores, and may hurt them. If you’re trying to improve your scores or plan to get a major loan in the next several months, leave them open.

If your scores are fine and you don’t expect to apply for a mortgage or car loan soon, then you certainly can close a few retail cards. But try to keep open your major credit cards, such as Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express.

Answer: The primary concern with paying off a loan is that the lender may stop reporting the account to the credit bureaus. Although there are limits to how long most negative information can stay on a credit report, there are no limits to how long good information can or must be reported.

Still, most lenders continue to report accounts that have been paid off for several years. If you can pay off a high-rate loan, you probably should, and trust that you’ll get “credit” for your on-time payments for years to come.

Answer: One of the many persistent myths about credit is that having too many cards is bad for your credit scores. In reality, the leading credit scoring formula, the FICO, doesn’t punish you for having “too much” available credit. You can, however, hurt your credit scores by closing accounts.

If you’re not going to be in the market for a new loan any time soon, you can certainly close a few retail cards if you no longer use them and don’t want the hassle of keeping track of those accounts. But you’ll probably want to keep open your major credit card accounts (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express) unless there’s a compelling reason to close them, such as an annual fee you don’t want to pay.

Answer: Plenty of lenders don’t report to credit bureaus. Even some credit unions, which are normally consumer-friendly, opt to report to only one credit bureau.

If you’re trying to rehabilitate battered credit scores, you want accounts to be reported to all three bureaus so that all three of your FICO credit scores (one from each bureau) can benefit. It doesn’t do your scores any good if a loan you’re paying on time isn’t reported to any bureau, and it does you only limited good if it’s reported to just one bureau because your other two scores won’t benefit.

You typically can find out simply by asking before you apply for a loan whether the creditor reports to all three bureaus.

The fastest way to improve your scores is to have both installment and revolving accounts. Revolving accounts include credit cards, but you don’t necessarily need to borrow money to improve your scores. Using a credit card and paying it in full each month also can help. If you don’t have a card, consider applying for a secured version, which gives you a credit limit equal to an amount you deposit with the issuing bank. But again, make sure the issuer reports the account to all three bureaus before you apply. You can find secured-card offers at LowCards.com, CardRatings.com, CreditCards.com and other sites.

Answer: Unless your credit scores are excellent (typically FICO credit scores of 740 or above), these days you probably shouldn’t waste your time trying to negotiate a lower rate with your current issuers.

People with great credit have some leverage, because they can easily transfer their balances to competitors offering low rates. People with only “decent” credit usually can’t qualify for those offers.

You may be able to get a better deal by transferring your balance to a three-year, fixed-rate personal loan. Check with your local credit union first, as these member-owned organizations often have better rates and terms.

Answer: Congratulations on your progress paying off your debt. Erasing your debt on those two cards is doubtless already helping your scores. You can continue to improve your numbers by using the cards lightly but regularly, paying the balances in full each month.

Credit scoring formulas want to see you actively, and responsibly, using credit. Shutting the cards in a drawer won’t demonstrate that you can do that. You’re also running the risk that a card issuer will shut down your account because of inactivity.

If you discover you can’t use the cards responsibly, however, then locking them in that drawer (or freezing them in ice) is better than running up credit card debt again.

Answer: No. Your credit reports and credit scores aren’t combined when you marry.

If you apply for a loan together, both of your credit histories and scores would be taken into account. His bad scores could prevent you from getting approved. If you did get approved, you would probably have to pay a much higher interest rate.

If you do plan to get a mortgage or other loan together down the road, he should start to rehabilitate his scores as soon as his home situation is resolved. He should expect his scores to remain in the poor-to-fair category for at least three years, and it may take as many as seven years to get them into the “excellent” range.

Answer: It can take five years after a bankruptcy for your FICO credit scores to return to the 680 range, which is about where auto loan interest rates start to get more reasonable. People with FICOs in the 660 to 690 range got interest rates averaging about 7.5%, according to the MyFico.com site, compared with 11% and up for those with lower scores. It can take seven or more years to boost your scores above 720, which is where the truly low rates (4% and below) can be had.

To rehabilitate your scores as quickly as possible, first review your credit reports at http://www.annualcreditreport.com to make sure all the debts that were included in bankruptcy are listed that way. If you have any open credit card accounts, use them lightly but regularly and pay them off in full every month. “Lightly” means using less than 30% of your credit limits. If you don’t have a card, consider applying for a secured card, which gives you a credit limit equal to an amount you deposit with the issuing bank, typically $200 to $1,000. You can find secured card offers at several websites, including LowCards.com, CreditCards.com, CardRatings.com and NerdWallet.com.

After a year or so, consider adding an installment loan such as a personal loan or an auto loan to your credit mix. A credit union may give you a more reasonable rate than a traditional bank. Paying off that loan should help boost your scores.

Don’t close accounts or apply for a bunch of new accounts. Pay all your bills on time and don’t let disputes or medical bills wind up in collections.

There aren’t any quick fixes, so don’t waste your money on credit repair firms or other pitches that promise instant results. What will repair your score is using credit responsibly over time.

Answer: If your FICO scores are close to 800, they’re more than OK — they’re excellent. And once scores are that high, the reasons the credit bureaus give you for why they’re not higher are pretty much irrelevant. Even if you could fix the purported problem, it probably wouldn’t affect your numbers that much.

But you should consider adding another credit card once your refinance closes. A second card could serve as a backup if your primary card ever gets temporarily shut because of fraud. A second card also gives you somewhere to go if your issuer raises your rate, cuts your credit limit or starts imposing unreasonable fees. It’s not smart in today’s financial environment to be beholden to a single credit card issuer.

Answer: Typically, your delinquent account will be turned over to a collection agency. Not only will your credit scores take a hit, but you may be subject to nasty collection calls as well.

If your time share is paid for, you might consider giving it away. Some people have successfully gotten rid of time shares by listing them for $1 or so on Craigslist or eBay.

If you still owe money on the loan you used to buy the time share, though, giving it away is probably not an option unless you’re able to pay off the loan first.