How Did Your Teens Establish Credit?

I think you have to know your kid.

DS2 - I could give him a credit card with a million dollar balance and he would never abuse it. So he got his own card when he enlisted and moved abroad. I see the statements and know he pays it off every single month. So at 21, he has a great credit score.

DS1 - He would not be responsible with a credit card of his very own, at any limit. So he is a signer under my American Express. He is working towards becoming more responsible so he has his card and I watch it like a hawk. When he is on his medicene like he should be, he is great. But when he quits taking it he becomes an out of control spender. His new meds are working well and he has really been paying attention to due dates and whatnot, so I am hopeful that he is getting to a point where I dont have to monitor it.

DH and I were very hesitant to get a credit card (again) after we became 100% debt free a decade or so ago. But we ended up getting an American Express Platinum and pay it off every single month, automatically.

All of our kids went off to college with a student visa card through our bank that either DH or myself were co-signers of.  We've tried very hard to teach our children to not charge more than they can afford to pay in full each month.  


I don't know how people can do anything without having a credit card.  We just booked a vacation and had to have a credit card to book airline and hotel reservations along with making reservations for pre-booking certain events we want to attend.  Thankfully we will be able to pay our visa bill in full upon returning home.  

my mom co-signed for a VISA credit card for me when I was in college... I've had that same credit card now for over 30 years, and have (other than a few exceptions) paid it off every month.  I'm convinced that my longevity with this card (and the responsible payment history) is one of the things that has helped me to consistently have excellent credit, which in turn, has helped me get mortgages, car loans, etc. with little problem.

Longevity totally matters.

I got my first Visa card when I was 18, and in college.  It had a $600 limit.  Almost 30 years later I still have the same credit card and it has a $25K limit on it (actually, it might have come down to $19K recently due to non-use).  Every time I look at my credit rating it talks about longevity.  My credit hovers between 830-850 (I actually had 850 dead on for a month this summer).

I currently use my Costco Visa card for everything and pay off monthly.  I don't use my debit card hardly at all anymore.  Maybe once every few months - and that's only if I shop at a grocery store that doesn't take credit (employee owned grocery stores usually don't).

We put our daughter on our Visa as an authorized user, and then when she turned 18 she got a student Visa with a low limit.

My ex had gotten them a credit card in their name on his account in highschool so they automatically had credit from that.

We have our accounts through a credit union and set up a credit card for DS that one of us co-signs, and it is paid off monthly. We don't use credit cards at gas stations due to common fraud, nor online. Much more difficult to get reimbursed for debit card fraud. So I think it is important to have a credit card but also to pay it off monthly.

When I was in college I started my credit by getting a Macy's credit card and paying that off regularly. But I think today with kids traveling to college, etc. having a visa or mc is valuable. If they are driving or have medical emergencies it will come in handy as well.