How to Know if Your Child is Ready for Student Credit Cards

A first credit card is a right of passage for a new college student, offering added convenience to college students living away from home for the first time. Once young adults have student credit cards, parents often feel that they have started their children out right, establishing a credit history and paving the way for their future financial independence. Student credit cards offer a lot of advantages, but they can be risky as well, offering up many temptations for students to run up large debts. Here's how to decide if your child is ready for this financial right of passage.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Insight
• Familiarity with your child's daily habits- the good, the bad, and the ugly.

1. First, decide who will pay for the expenses billed to the first credit card. Be certain that if you plan for your child to be responsible for the charges, that he or she knows it and has clearly accepted that responsibility. If parents plan for their children to pay for the expenses of student credit cards, they also make a plan about how he or she will manage to pay for their first credit card.

2. Even if you plan to foot the bill, you still need to be sure that your son or daughter is responsible enough to avoid frivolous expenses. Has your child ever stolen money from you? Does your child understand the value of a dollar? Does your student currently stay within a budget?

3. By looking at your child's daily habits, you can gain some insights into whether or not he or she is ready for a first credit card. Can your child confront harsh realities? Or does he or she shy away from painful truths or memories? Students who are not yet emotionally mature enough face harsh realities head on may not be mature enough to open the bills when they arrive, or to be honest about expense billed to student credit cards.

4. Is your child detail oriented? Does he or she open the mail- even boring stuff, and read it? If not, your child may miss important notices from the finance company that could cost big bucks. Is your child impulsive? Impulsive young adults may not have the self-control necessary to say no to temptation when armed with student credit cards.

5. Looking at all of these factors may be discouraging. You may decide that John or Jane is not yet ready for a first credit card. Take heart. Continue to guide and encourage your child, working on each of these habits: facing reality, taking care of business (even when it's boring), avoiding impulsive decisions, and staying within a budget. If you guide your child into adopting these good habits, he or she will eventually be ready for a first credit card.