Authorized User Question

skimmie48 · ‎01-21-2015

I'm trying to decide if I should put my son as an AU on one of my CC's. He will be turning 18 in one month.

Questions are,

1. Should I put him on the one that is the oldest or the one that has the highest CL. ( oldest is a secured cap1 $700, second oldest has highest limit)

2. Will his CR just be reported on that card? I have two paid Medical collections and don't want that reflected on his CR.

3. Would this help him for student loans or hurt him. He will be applying for them fairly soon.

4. Does my utilization impact him? I have 8% on this card usually.

Thanks!

BluePoodle · ‎01-21-2015

@skimmie48 wrote:
I'm trying to decide if I should put my son as an AU on one of my CC's. He will be turning 18 in one month.

Questions are,
1. Should I put him on the one that is the oldest or the one that has the highest CL. ( oldest is a secured cap1 $700, second oldest has highest limit)

2. Will his CR just be reported on that card? I have two paid Medical collections and don't want that reflected on his CR.

3. Would this help him for student loans or hurt him. He will be applying for them fairly soon.

4. Does my utilization impact him? I have 8% on this card usually.

Thanks!

I would suggest a card with 0% balance and highest CL. If you have an AMEX that would also be a great card. Actually, any card with 0% balances and decent CL are fine. I would avoid maxed out cards and store cards. I know, many people here like store cards, I don't. So it's just my opinion.

Why would you think your Medical collections would be his responsibility? Unless they are his and he was of legal age to be responsible for them, there is no relationship between putting someone as an AU and any other negative reporting on your CR.

In regards to student loans, are you referring to Federally backed student loans or private? It will not impact him qualifying and receiving federally backed student loans. They hand those out like candy to anyone who can fog a mirror. Sorry....he'll be fine. Private loans have more to do with YOUR scores than his unless he is no longer a depend and will be applying for private loans. They will still want you to co-sign more than likely. If he is 18, I assume he is a dependent and this will not be the case.

I do believe your utilization impacts his scores. I have seen fluctuation in my daugher's scores based on my utilization and she as a AU. Others may disagree but that is what I have noticed in watching our scores.

BTW, I do not think the age of your cards matter. I believe the date of when you added them as an AU is when they receive their start date. So oldest card would be irrelevant. Although, there may be someone else who can report differently.

skimmie48 · ‎01-21-2015

Thanks! Your reply was very helpful.

I had never considered adding an AU until I started reading on the forum, so I appreciate all info.

I was referring to the Federally backed student loans and had no idea if he needed credit or not. I'm just trying to give him a start on the way to credit building.

Are AMEX good cards to have? I keep ripping up the offers I get from them. I was gardening until 2weeks ago, now back to the garden I go unless I should go for the AMEX.

BluePoodle · ‎01-21-2015

@skimmie48 wrote:
Thanks! Your reply was very helpful.

I had never considered adding an AU until I started reading on the forum, so I appreciate all info.
I was referring to the Federally backed student loans and had no idea if he needed credit or not. I'm just trying to give him a start on the way to credit building.
Are AMEX good cards to have? I keep ripping up the offers I get from them. I was gardening until 2weeks ago, now back to the garden I go unless I should go for the AMEX.

The federally backed loans are gauranteed. There is no underwriting so students who generally have no credit history are able to obtain them.

Without knowing your scores, income, spending or needs in a card, It is hard to say that an AMEX card would be beneficial. Many people love them for the backdating purposes and I think for myself, that is a great reason to consider an AMEX card. But do your research here first on if it is worthwhile for you and check out the benefits of the cards. What are the offers they are sending you? Sharing those here would be helpful for you to decide. I got the ED Amex with 15 month of 0% interest and a 12.99% rate after, which is by far my lowest. My card started at 1.5K, then I received the 3x cli at day 61 to $4.5K and then again another 3x cli at day 181. So now it is my largest CL on any card. If that is something that sounds appealing to you, then yes, AMEX is worth considering and stepping out of the garden for. If you do, I would definetly add your son on as an AU to your amex card. You can set a spending limit for him too, which is nice so that he doesn't have access to your entire credit line with them.

skimmie48 · ‎01-21-2015

My scores are in the mid 600's. Just listed as good on here. Income is 80K yr. My oldest card is only 3 years old. I paid cash for everything up until that time after divorce 18 years ago and left with not so good credit. I think the ones that were sent to me by AMEX were blue. I don't remember which ones. Current hi limit is on Chase Freedom of $4500 that I've had for one year. One major purchase on card then just use the card for bills or whatever they are paying rewards on, same for other cards...whichever one will give me the most rewards back.

One of these days I will figure out how to post a signature and my cards.