Credit card and/or Apple Cash for teens?
- Thread starter zovall
- Start date
NEW -> Contingent Buyer Assistance Program
irvinehomeowner
Well-known member
Add them to your credit cards if you can.
Points for you and I think it builds their credit.
Also... prevents fraud vs those bank ATM cards that can be accepted as MC/Visa.
Points for you and I think it builds their credit.
Also... prevents fraud vs those bank ATM cards that can be accepted as MC/Visa.
sgip
Well-known member
Soylent Yellow is now is interested in opening a credit account. The only card our Credit Union is offering her is a secured card, then after 12 months a "real credit card". Odd for someone 26 and gainfully employed, but what can you do? Sure, there are other card issuers with lower standards, but we don't like their rates. Wish we had started her on a credit build earlier.
We started Soylent Blue off differently by getting a $500 secured card in her own name when she was 16. Unfortunately in some ways ... by her 18th birthday she was flooded with credit offers because of her clean payments history. Today she limits the number of credit accounts she has and knows how to manage her bills because of her prior credit use experience.
If you've got a teen building credit, be sure to remind them that if they use it, they have to pay it. Things can get out of control quickly if Jr. believes Mom and Dad are going to zero out kiddos credit bill every time.
Adding your Kiddos to your account helps, but it's not "authentic" credit. Most credit reports will show these shared accounts as an "Authorized User" account, not the child's own credit.
Finally, credit isn't well built by the number of cards they have or that they maintain a zero balance. Strong credit is built on payment history. Let some expenses on the card get paid over a few months to show on time payments. Yes, this also means paying a few dollars of interest, but it's a small cost relative to the benefit of documenting responsible credit use.
We started Soylent Blue off differently by getting a $500 secured card in her own name when she was 16. Unfortunately in some ways ... by her 18th birthday she was flooded with credit offers because of her clean payments history. Today she limits the number of credit accounts she has and knows how to manage her bills because of her prior credit use experience.
If you've got a teen building credit, be sure to remind them that if they use it, they have to pay it. Things can get out of control quickly if Jr. believes Mom and Dad are going to zero out kiddos credit bill every time.
Adding your Kiddos to your account helps, but it's not "authentic" credit. Most credit reports will show these shared accounts as an "Authorized User" account, not the child's own credit.
Finally, credit isn't well built by the number of cards they have or that they maintain a zero balance. Strong credit is built on payment history. Let some expenses on the card get paid over a few months to show on time payments. Yes, this also means paying a few dollars of interest, but it's a small cost relative to the benefit of documenting responsible credit use.
Last edited: