credit card for college kid?

[CaptainAmerica]

Not anymore. Have you hired kids out of university lately?

That's sort of my point. When we infantilize our expectations, we get infantilized results. We (the collective "we," as in "society") act as though we *must* treat grown adults as juveniles because they think and act like juveniles, but I think it's the other way around. They think and act like juveniles because we treat them as such.

 

[LilyJC]

No, it's not "usually" 15 or 16. It's extremely rarely 15 or 16, and if the parent pays their bills, there's no downside. My two year old has a credit score in the 700s.

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I don’t think this chart is accurate. When I tried to add our oldest to our Citi Costco CC, there most certainly was a minimum age requirement.

And she’ll be 17 her entire first year of college as she graduated high school a year early. While she’s very mature, she is still a child.

 

[sheilafri]

We had our children added as additional cardholders on a CC we have had for years. We let them have the physical card to use for emergencies as we trusted them to not abuse it. YMMV. When each went to buy their first house they basically had our credit score as they had no other installment loans. My younger son’s broker said he had never seen a credit score so high on a person under 60.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I don’t think this chart is accurate. When I tried to add our oldest to our Citi Costco CC, there most certainly was a minimum age requirement.

And she’ll be 17 her entire first year of college as she graduated high school a year early. While she’s very mature, she is still a child.

These exceptions are silly. Yes, obviously if your child *graduates high school a year early* they'll be younger than the vast majority of people entering college. Hence "early."

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

No, it's not "usually" 15 or 16. It's extremely rarely 15 or 16, and if the parent pays their bills, there's no downside. My two year old has a credit score in the 700s.

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I'd fact check that with each company but something tells me you got the point of my comment without honing in on some detail of a minimum age. I guess I should ask. Did you get the point of my comment about authorized users or do I need to rephrase it?

 

[LilyJC]

These exceptions are silly. Yes, obviously if your child *graduates high school a year early* they'll be younger than the vast majority of people entering college. Hence "early."

More-so absolute statements are silly.

 

[kdonnel]

FWIW, there's no need for anybody to open a credit card they don't want just to "build credit." You can add adults (and, depending on the card issuer, children) to your existing credit card accounts as authorized users and they'll inherit the credit history for those accounts.

Parents should really add their kids as authorized users as soon as the kids might be in a situation where they would need to spend money without the parents being present. For us that was once they started driving and might need gas or an emergency repair.

It is my understanding that Amex does not back date history but most Visa and MC will.

My son has 25 years of credit history and is only 19 years old.

 

[SC Minnie]

We belong to a credit union. We had opened savings account for DD when she was very young. When she was 16 we added a checked account. She turned 18 a month before leaving for college and applied for a Visa card at the CU. She was approved for $500 limit. Enough to use and build credit but not get into too much trouble. Over time they increased her limit of course.

She was also added on one of our cards for major emergencies- like unexpected car repairs.

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

Add as authorized user on your cc with longest age of credit. Just with that on their credit report they should qualify for any card.

I would recommend a card with no annual fee and cash back. Chase Freedom Unlimited or something similar.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

More-so absolute statements are silly.

Generalized statements are not absolute statements and are perfectly acceptable in casual conversation. I did not say "100% of students enrolling in college have reached the age of majority before their first day on campus, without exception." I said "adults go to college," which is true in the general sense.

If I said "human beings have ten fingers and ten toes," would you clap back at me about polydactyly or amputees or wounded war veterans? Of course not, because everyone knows that that the statement, "human beings have ten fingers and ten toes," is generally true.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Parents should really add their kids as authorized users as soon as the kids might be in a situation where they would need to spend money without the parents being present.

Even before that, if you want. My kids are 7, 4, and 2 and they're all on all of our accounts that they're eligible to be on. When their cards arrive, we activate them, then they go straight into the shredder.

 

[luvmyfam444]

FWIW, there's no need for anybody to open a credit card they don't want just to "build credit." You can add adults (and, depending on the card issuer, children) to your existing credit card accounts as authorized users and they'll inherit the credit history for those accounts.

oh I didn't know that - though we don't have a cc - but her grandmother does

 

[luvmyfam444]

No, it's not "usually" 15 or 16. It's extremely rarely 15 or 16, and if the parent pays their bills, there's no downside. My two year old has a credit score in the 700s.

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your 2 yo has a credit card?

 

[MrsPete]

Children don't go to college, adults go to college.

Eh, partially true.
Ignoring dual-enrollment in high school /college ... only considering full-time students, more than a few students begin college at 17. And very few 18 year olds are truly adults.

 

[MrsPete]

We belong to a credit union. We had opened savings account for DD when she was very young. When she was 16 we added a checked account. She turned 18 a month before leaving for college and applied for a Visa card at the CU. She was approved for $500 limit. Enough to use and build credit but not get into too much trouble. Over time they increased her limit of course.

She was also added on one of our cards for major emergencies- like unexpected car repairs.

Yes, my mother took me to the credit union the summer before I was a high school senior, and she helped me open a checking account -- I actually still have that account. She encouraged me to use it in high school, and every month she watched me reconcile my account. When I went away to college, I understood checking and -- unlike many of my dorm mates -- I never had any problems with it.

I did the same thing for my children, but we added "some plastic" since that's now an expectation -- it wasn't back when I was a college student. Like you, SC Minnie, my kids had a very low credit limit -- we thought just as you did: enough for convenience and to build credit, but not enough to get into real trouble.

I'd recommend a similar path to any parent /child preparing for college.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

your 2 yo has a credit card?

My two year old has several credit cards.