Making my kid an Authorized User on Cap1

[Anonymous]

Well technically you can make him a user and cut the card up when it comes he will just enjoy more history when he wants to go get credit on his own. sadly I will admit that I was better with my credit at 18 than my earlier twenties when i had much more responsibility and expenses. It's almost never a story of ignoring bills on purpose life gets in the way

[Anonymous]

I literally not 10 minutes ago made my daughter an AU on a card I just received in the mail.  She is 15, extremely responsible and I'm not worried in the slightest.  I have discussed the possibility with her before and explained my reason for giving her one, and how and when she can use it.  She is driving now so having a card handy just in case is nice.  Some kids I'd NEVER trust, but I have no worries with my daughter.  We have discussed how credit works, how you pay the bills and how very important it is to be responsible with your credit and score.  She even knows how long it takes stuff to fall off lol.  I was in depth in our talks lol.

My parents never helped me, no AU for me gorwing up, no advice at all actually.  That did not work as I made plenty of mistakes though my biggest issues happend becaus of things out of my control they were still painful lessons.  I am still recovering now, but mainly becasue I'd not used credit for 10+ years and everything fell off so I'm almost starting over at this point.  I'd like to share my knowledge and hopefully spare her the worst of my lessons. 

[Anonymous]

get him his own secured card

[Anonymous]

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@Callandra wrote:

People tend to have mixed feelings on this; in one way it's good since it will start building his credit and you can reap some rewards. I don't know your son but I'm assuming he's trustworthy as if you do make him an AU, you are responsible for everything he charges. He will have no liability in paying it back. 

I personally think that people should build their own credit by themselves (I did it all on my own, I didn't AU-free ride off my parents and it's much more rewarding to build things on your own) but I know others want their kids to have a great start and give them that. You might want to sit down and explain to him how credit works and to explain that he is expected to pay you for all his charges (and you can even set up interest on it if he charges things that he cannot pay off right away) as if you were the bank. Another thing to consider is to get an Amex since they allow you to set a limit on charges from AUs (so you coud give him a $100 limit). 

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Just because you built your credit all by yourself doesn't mean that everyone should do that. My mom added me on as an AU at 15 and it's done wonders for me. The day I turned 18 I got my Amex Blue, and it's my oldest card to date. My credit score is in the 810s+. I own a house, a nice car. I'm 27. Having a jump start on credit is a great thing. I'm completely for it if you know he's responsible. However, my mom got me my own account. She didn't just add me onto her own account, she opened up a separate card which she then added me as AU, and I set up an account online, and made the payments. She didn't pay for any of it. I acted as if it was my own (and it was) and she knew I wouldn't screw her over. So that is always a good way to do it. That way, they've earned it (to Callandra's point). Either way, it's definitely a good idea. 

[icyhot]

I made my 16 year old sister an AU on my Cap1 Spark Card and set the limit to $100. Since its so small whatever she charges I pay back. However she was a user on my Forward and Delta and I took those cards from her after she lost her job and told her she could have them when she got a new one. Honestly, she's way more responsible than my mom, who's racked up serious charges and won't pay em back

[Anonymous]

I made my little brother an AU on one of my Cap1 cards, he's 5 years old. Shredded the card they sent me. Now he's getting preapproved offers in the mail.

[mskarma]

My mom added my little brother to her Amex gold card when he was 16. When he was 18 he was able to buy a car without a co signer. He is now 24 and has had 3 auto loans, a few credit cards, a house and a 787 credit score! 

My my mom did not do this for me (I am 8 years older) and she had to co-sign on my first two auto loans and I had a much more difficult time building on my own then he did. When my kids is old enough I will add them as AU's to help them out.

[Ravensfan2001]

I think making him an AU will help. You can teach financial responsibility at the same time. My 16-year-old is an AU on 3 of my accounts; he has 2 cards - Amex and Target. Amex is for emergencies only, and the Target is for the discount. No problems so far... *knock on wood*

[Anonymous]

My mom made me an AU on her CapOne card when I traveled internationally at 16. She never removed me and kept up with payments. As a result - I was able to get my auto loan and several other lines of credit by myself. My score was in the 670s by the time I actually personally got a line of credit. 

I'm extremely thankful and I will definitely do the same for my kid. 

[Anonymous]

I absolutely plan on doing this for my kid when he's older.  He's only four now.

My parents taught me NOTHING about credit.  I was really clueless about it and never had a card until I was in my later 20's.  I carried balances and didn't know that affected my score (I thought meeting the minimum payments was good enough), and because I carried balances, when I got laid off of work in 2009 and couldn't find a new job quickly enough, it seriously screwed up my credit.

I'm thankful I'm older and wiser now, and never want my kiddo to be in those same shoes.  I definitely want to give him a great head start!