Kids As AU?

[HYPASS33]

Would me adding my two kids to 1-2 of my cards but only have them a set 250.00 limit help them as far as building there credit? I know how hard it is to start building credit so just trying to give them a jump start but don't want to give them the ability to go crazy like some young people do and hurt me either! LoL

Thoughts??

[SSA_2013]

It depends on the age. If they are 16-18 I would say yes. If you plan on actually giving them their physical cards be sure that they are mature enough to make a good decision about spending/emergencies and set limits. If they are younger it may be good for security reasons but it won't have much benefit to their credit at this point. The reason is that on manual review someone would realize that the account wasn't really managed by them.

[HYPASS33]

They are 19 & 20.

[kevinjjc]

AMEX? Wouldn't it help with their future backdating?

[HYPASS33]

I don't have a Amex card tho. Just USAA, BOA, Wells Fargo, CU and hopefully Chase Freedom come Monday.

[09Lexie]

I don't believe you can set limits on those cc's. to my knowledge, only Amex allows it for ACMs.

[FocusedAndDetermined]

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@09Lexie wrote:
I don't believe you can set limits on those cc's. to my knowledge, only Amex allows it for ACMs.

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That was my understading, as well.  The OP could double check with other lecard issuers, but I believe AMEX is the only one with the ability to set limits for AUs.

[Revelate]

I think if I the situation sans AMEX: if I had a quality tradeline, I'd add them but not give them the card.

If they were students, I'd have them establish their own student cards, or if I thought they really couldn't handle it, I might open them a minimum secured card with BOFA or SDFCU, or other useful institution.  Maybe even DCU (freebie FICO score, may teach them to look at it, may not, not sure).