Credit cards are the devil!!!

sabnake -

Welcome to the forums! I have to agree with you - teens should not have credit cards. I think there should be a 21-year age limit on credit cards, just like there is on drinking. Or perhaps even older.

If you have debt issues you would like to discuss, please feel free to post them here. We're always glad to help. And since you've registered with this site, a debt counselor will be calling you to discuss your options for consolidation or settlement of your debts. Feel free to discuss this with them - perhaps that will be the key to your financial freedom!

Welcome to the forums :D I am happy that you found the site and I hope you enjoy the info that it will give you. I, myself, totally agree with you. I am 22 years old and the only debt that I have is credit cards. I was 18 and never had anyone to really teach me about credit, so I went and got 2 or 3 cards with pretty large limits. Everytime that I went to a store, I would swipe it instead of using cash. Now, I am holding a charge off on my CR, and having to make monthly payments on it. For anyone that is young, be very careful with cc's and if you need one, get a small limit and only use it for emergencies.

I think that the idea of someone under 21 having a credit card depends entirely on the individual. Some young people are extremely responsible and are able to handle the temptations of credit cards. When I was 20 years old I worked in the credit department at Sears. The part-time employees (all 18-21) were offered the chance by Sears to open charge accounts with $100.00 limits. This was their way of teaching young people about credit and how not to misuse it. This was in 1977. Needless to say, it was my first credit card.

Yea, that is also true. But it really helps if parents and/or siblings talk to the younger kids about it.

Very true---parents can set a good example or a bad example! Children have a tendency to follow their lead, unless steered in the right (or wrong direction).

This is true. If, however, you have more than one child, they can be as different as night and day. For example, my older son has bad credit, yet my daughter has excellent credit (there is 1-1/2 years difference in ages). So I think it's a combination of the individual and the example the parents set.

It depends on the individual. My son was able to charge, at age 15, drum parts at the local music store. He always made his payment on the day he would get his paycheck. I would have to run him to the bank as soon as I got home from work, even in a blizzard once, because was so responsible about making his payment on the day he was paid. He had a paper route and did yard work. He started a retirement account at age 19 and bought his first house at age 21. I would have had no problem with him getting a credit card as a teen. As for my daughters........now that is another story!

JMM, I commend your son - grat accomplishments at such a young age. Yes, he definitely would have had no problem with a credit card.