Preparing Your College-Bound Kids For The Deluge Of Credit Card Offers

Is your son or daughter bound to leave the nest for college?  If they are, it might be time to have “the talk”.  I don’t mean the birds and the bees either - you should have had that one a long, long, LONG time ago.

I’m referring to the talk about debt responsibility and credit management.

Before they’ve settled well into their new college life, chances are they’ll be inundated with a deluge of credit card marketing, offering everything from a free shirt to a new iPod to sign up.  While enticing, credit cards aren’t always the best idea for an impressionable young mind.

A credit card is one of the few ways a young student has of being able to build up their credit scores.  Unfortunately, it’s equipped to just as easily wreak havoc on it.   Most students take to college (and their first credit card along with it) fully unaware of what its consequences are.  As a result, they spend its purchasing power irresponsibly, digging themselves into an unfortunate hole early in their financial lives.

Well before they pack those bags to head out for the rest of their adult lives, sit them down and discuss the dfferent types of credit cards.  Let them know its benefits as a way to pay for emergency expenses and its value in extending their spending power.  At the same time, help them be able to differentiate between a good credit card offer and a flashy, empty one - including interest rates, credit limits, perks and more.