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Establishing Student Credit cards for my son

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FloridaState12
Established Contributor

Re: Establishing Student Credit cards for my son


@birjest wrote:

Since my son did take a inquiry hit, we will call tomorrow to recon for the Forward.  He was denied the student dividend plat select.  It still baffle me that these cards are gear for college students, but as a sophomore and being 18, he was denied for short history....as the infamous Mays Gilliam would say..."IT AINT RIGHT!!!"


I have both the Dividend and Forward student cards from Citi. The Dividend was easy and I was approved with about 4-5 months of history with a few Cap1 cards and a credit union card...but I also had been an AU on a couple of my parents accounts since I was 18 (I was 20 when I got the Citi card), so maybe that extra history helped me get approved? Funny enough, that card has my highest limit of $4k.


The Forward was a pain in the you know what to get approved after initially being denied, but after a bunch of calls to customer service, I finally got a hold of someone from their executive office and was approved for $2k, my second-highest limit. 

 

I'm 21 now and have a Discover More (student), Chase Freedom, Bank of America 123 rewards, AMEX Zync, Barclays NFL Visa, Walmart store card, and the two Citi cards I referenced above, all mine (not AU). I really believe my parents helped me by adding me as an AU (that is, one the accounts they paid on time Smiley Tongue , so I think you're doing a great thing for your son! I waited until I was 20 until getting into the credit game, but the younger the better. Now I'm ready to graduate college and I have built a nice little history and a solid collection of cards. By the time your son is getting is career set, he's going to have immaculate credit, thanks largely to you.

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Message 11 of 18
CribDuchess
Established Contributor

Re: Establishing Student Credit cards for my son


@westo12 wrote:

Thank you for confirming!  That's what I'll be doing on her 18th birthday, she's also seen me struggled far too long with past (and some current, lol) credit issues! 


 

If you have an AMEX card, you don't even have to wait until she turns 18.  You can add them when they turn 15 years old.  My son is 15 and I added him to my Amex Optima a few months ago.  I'm trying to teach him about credit, but I also like the idea of him earning rewards points for me while he's out spending my money.  Smiley Very Happy


 

FICOs: TU08 842 EQ08 850 EX08 850

My Wallet: Amex Gold NPSL; Amex Optima Platinum $25K; Amex BCE $12K; Apple Card $20K; BofA Travel Rewards Visa Sig $67.6K; Cap1 Quicksilver Visa Sig $10K; CSP $28.2K; Chase Freedom $13K; Chase Freedom Unlimited $21.4K; Citi Costco Visa $19.3K; Citi Double Cash $13.5K; Citi Simplicity Visa $23.3K; Discover IT $50K; Fidelity Visa $25K; NFCU Flagship Visa Sig $40K; NFCU More Rewards Amex $30K; PenFed Plat Rewards Visa Sig $50K; Sears MC $10.1K; US Bank Altitude Go Visa Sig $20K; US Bank Cash+ Visa Sig $26K; Wells Fargo Rewards Visa Sig $14K
Message 12 of 18
Crashem
Valued Contributor

Re: Establishing Student Credit cards for my son


@birjest wrote:

Yes, he was and still is 18.  I think he is off to a good start, 2 cc on his own, with another as an AU.  And he is very careful about credit.  He saw what me and his mom went though back in 2008...in which we went through the Dave Ramsey 's program.  Great program, a bit off line about credit, but I am teaching my son that credit cards are tools and not toys.  I also use the DR phrase, "don't be a slave to the credit card companies, be the master..."  or something like that...Smiley Happy


He might want to get a Zync in a year or so.  This way he can lock in his member date (remember to create login for this AU Amex to help lock in the member date).  Amex Charge cards are great for managing utilization when you are planning on apping for credit, whether it be for mortgage/car loan/credit card.

               LIMITS IN CARD DESCRIPTIONS
Message 13 of 18
webhopper
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Establishing Student Credit cards for my son

<3

 

Good plan. I wish my mom had talked to me about credit and finances. I didn't have a realistic picture of those until I was probably 25-26.  I did not know that it was easy to screw up credit until it actually happened.  As it is, I've been very open with my daughter about money and finances and telling her when we can and cant' afford things and why we can/can't afford them budgetwise. She's only 11 but she knows the difference between cash, checking, savings, roth iras, traditional iras, 401ks, credit card accounts, and debit card / writing checks.

 

My plan is to add her as an AU to my Amex account when she's older, maybe 14 - 16, with a pre-set limit on her spending ability, something like maybe $100, so that she can use the card to pay for things when she's out and about with friends.  I'll also add her to my discover card account which has been open since 1999 with perfect payment history. We are NFCU members, so she can open up a NFCU card as well on her own name when she turns 18. She is already a NFCU member, and I've been depositing cash here and there into her sharesavings account.

 

These are things that I wish my parents had done for me, so I'm happy to be moving toward that direction with my own daughter  

FICO 9:
Filed Chapter 13 on 6/1/2017 after job loss. Discharged 6/1/2022.

Goal: Gardening!


Message 14 of 18
birjest
Frequent Contributor

Re: Establishing Student Credit cards for my son

Hmm, the way I look at it, I rather it be me teaching my son about credit and not his school or friends.  Also, I am still debating on recon Citibank.  I wonder if I should let this one go, or pursue it....


5/30/15 EQ 596; TU 605; EX 580.
12/18/17 EQ 646; TU 660; EX 674.
7/30/23 EQ 708; TU 703; EX 721.
Message 15 of 18
Crashem
Valued Contributor

Re: Establishing Student Credit cards for my son


@birjest wrote:

Hmm, the way I look at it, I rather it be me teaching my son about credit and not his school or friends.  Also, I am still debating on recon Citibank.  I wonder if I should let this one go, or pursue it....



Recon can't hurt as long as you can guaranteee they don't do another hard pull.  Might do a search to see if that is true.

               LIMITS IN CARD DESCRIPTIONS
Message 16 of 18
webhopper
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Establishing Student Credit cards for my son


@birjest wrote:

Hmm, the way I look at it, I rather it be me teaching my son about credit and not his school or friends.  Also, I am still debating on recon Citibank.  I wonder if I should let this one go, or pursue it....



I echo that sentiment.  I had multiple friends on campus who were using credit cards to pay for things like alcohol and books, computers etc.  some of these friends didn't even finish college.  In my case, I applied for a CC but I knew enough about the pitfalls to know that I didn't want to keep it in my wallet.. as I essentially had no income to pay the bill.  I had the cards sent to my parents house, and now these are some of my oldest accounts, with perfect history since they went unused for a long time.  When I finally got my first "real" job...  at that point I decided to actually use the cards.

 

In my case, I screwed up my co-signing for my then husband on a vehicle. When we split, he didn't pay the note. Also he took all the money out of our joint account. Left me with none...  I had a wells fargo card at that time, which ended up going to 90 days late before I paid it.   Definately if I had had the sort of relationship with my parents where we could openly discuss money, then I would have asked questions and understood what a big deal it was to co sign and about paying the CC bill.

FICO 9:
Filed Chapter 13 on 6/1/2017 after job loss. Discharged 6/1/2022.

Goal: Gardening!


Message 17 of 18
westo12
Established Contributor

Re: Establishing Student Credit cards for my son


@CribDuchess wrote:

@westo12 wrote:

Thank you for confirming!  That's what I'll be doing on her 18th birthday, she's also seen me struggled far too long with past (and some current, lol) credit issues! 


 

If you have an AMEX card, you don't even have to wait until she turns 18.  You can add them when they turn 15 years old.  My son is 15 and I added him to my Amex Optima a few months ago.  I'm trying to teach him about credit, but I also like the idea of him earning rewards points for me while he's out spending my money.  Smiley Very Happy


 


I don't and my daughter will be 18 shortly, but that's good info to know!

Chap7 discharge 07/2015
Fico 5/1/19: TR:650(73% util)
Cap1(Plat+QS) 3500+4500/Merrick 1600/Express 4100/Overstock 4900.
Message 18 of 18
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