On his podcast, Clark Howard answers real reader questions on money, credit, debt, retirement, travel, and more, along with co-host Christa DiBiase.

Clark's answer: Your good standing will be just fine. Because you pay your credit card balances in full each month, you likely have very low credit utilization – which is the percentage of your available credit that you're using. You're in great shape. An 850 is a perfect credit score, so if you're at 840 right now, you are just a whisker from total perfection.

Even though you won't have an active mortgage anymore, your credit history doesn't just disappear. If you look at the nonsense the credit bureaus emphasize regarding having a "variety of credit," what lenders actually care about is seeing that you pay your bills on time every month and act responsibly with the credit available to you. You will maintain a great score. I haven't had a mortgage in a long time – maybe two decades or so – and the most recent FICO score I saw for myself was 806. Those numbers change constantly, but I am living proof that you can do just fine relying solely on revolving credit.