Son is new to credit - looking for advice on starting him right

[vawt]

I agree with those saying don't do it for him.  I think he would be better served to have to build his own history and be less likely to be irresponsible if you teach him how it all works.  If you think adding him as an AU is the right way to go, by all means do it.  It will establish his profile more quickly, but also gives you some risk.

Getting a student CC from his bank is a good start (or credit union).

I learned on my own and didn't make a lot of mistakes, but would have been extremely helpful to know the ins and outs of all that.

I think you should be commended for trying to decide what to do here.  Its much better than ignoring it and letting it be a "learning experience" like some would do.

[Anonymous]

It's not the responsibility of those in a web forum to make judgment decisions as to whether or not a parent should give a child a head start with credit or whether or not an 18 year old is responsible enough to be an AU on a credit card. He already knows that as the account holder, he will be responsible for all the transaction that any of his AU's make. 

Anyways, adding a credit card account or two with high CLs that have been open for a long time with no 30+ day late fees would have a profound effect on his ability to get credit with virtually no upside. However,if you haven't already, get a credit report so you can be absolutely positive that credit cards you add him as don't have late payments as it was affect his credit a lot more than it is effecting your credit. As others have made clear, if he turns out to be horrible with credit, he will get into a lot more debt that he would if you didn't AU him as the first credit cards he'd get in his name would have 2-5k limits instead of the usual $500 limits. However, I would like to point out that age isn't a deciding factor in how responsible someone is. I'm 18 and am infinitely more responsible with my 18k combined credit card line than my parents of 52 are with their 10k credit lines.

I want to point out what the question was so people stop trying to be parents over the internet. Let's try to answer the question instead attempting long distance parenting.

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@Anonymous wrote:
I want him to do what is going to be the best for him credit wise.  thanks.

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Message Edited by Wills188 on 03-13-2009 07:54 PM

[haulingthescoreup]

If I were to add a kid on to an account as an AU, I would stop using the card myself. In other words, every iota of activity on that card would come strictly from the kid. This is a good way of avoiding the fuzzy thinking of you charged this and I charged that.

The hardest adgustment for young people to make is to acknowledge their actions. Keep it clear what comes from their actions, and what comes from yours.

[smallfry]

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@haulingthescoreup wrote:
If I were to add a kid on to an account as an AU, I would stop using the card myself. In other words, every iota of activity on that card would come strictly from the kid. This is a good way of avoiding the fuzzy thinking of you charged this and I charged that.

The hardest adgustment for young people to make is to acknowledge their actions. Keep it clear what comes from their actions, and what comes from yours.

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I added my two daughters to a few of my accounts and gave each of them a BofA card to use. They both call before they use them and the only charges the past few months have been for the odd tank of gas here and there. Very responsible so far.