re: Adding children to a credit card account

quote:

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No offense, but y'all sound a little entitled. It's not hard at all to build up your own credit history while either in college or just after graduating college. Most banks/credit unions have car loan programs for recent graduates with competitive rates. A lot of car dealerships have similar programs. And it doesn't take much time to turn a secured credit card account into an unsecured one with a high enough limit to meet a young person's needs. No, you won't be able to charge all of your expenses to that card and start earning airline/hotel points, but in a few years with responsible usage you'll unlock that benefit.

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We get it you don't think people should help their kids build credit. That doesn't mean he's entitled. All he did was suggest to his parents that the rent they were already paying for be paid on a credit card in his name to help him build credit while still in college instead of in cash. That is not only a reasonable request, IMO, but a smart one. They could have helped set him up better for later in life, or they could have done it on a credit card in their name and taken advantage of the rewards. Either way they were giving something up by paying in cash.

I understand teaching financial responsibility, but credit history really has nothing to do with that. There's one way to get it and that is having credit. I don't understand why you're so against it. If a kid has a good credit score from their parents, gets out on there own and then doesn't pay their bills they'll figure out real quick how it works. If they have no or little credit history and need it they'll get a shitty rate on a loan and still figure out that if they don't pay their bills that your credit will be bad. There is no real benefit, but a lot of negatives.