Kiddos and Credit

[SoCalifornia]

My daughter is turning seventeen in less than two weeks.  So, I'm considering adding her as an AU on one of my accounts in order to get the ball rolling, so to speak.  She's a more-than-common responsible teenager, but it's not really about handing a card over to her.  It's mostly about providing a start so that she can begin to build her own credit.  As a teen, I was never really exposed to the credit world and took it upon myself to create a healthy file and understanding.  But she has better opportunity to have a strong file and habit at a younger age.  I've read around about the topic a little, but thought I might spark a fresh conversation about it with my MyFicoers.  At what age did you do this for your kiddos and what process did you use to go about it?

[Ms6Footer]

My son is on several of my cards but he doesn’t know. He knows he is on one, the one I let him carry. It’s a very small limit JUST IN CASE.... he looses his mind one day and thinks he’s going to run up a card it’s one I can handle.

[Anonymous]

My 16 and 15 year olds have AU cards on a few of my accounts. They have their cards and ask before using them. I get alerts if they spend and they’re very good about only using them if they ask or if I tell them to go ahead.

[Anonymous]

Here’s a somewhat recent thread on the topic:

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Relationships-and-Money/Helping-kids-get-their-credit-started/td-p/...

[M_Smart007]

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@SoCalifornia wrote:

My daughter is turning seventeen in less than two weeks.  So, I'm considering adding her as an AU on one of my accounts in order to get the ball rolling, so to speak.  She's a more-than-common responsible teenager, but it's not really about handing a card over to her.  It's mostly about providing a start so that she can begin to build her own credit.  As a teen, I was never really exposed to the credit world and took it upon myself to create a healthy file and understanding.  But she has better opportunity to have a strong file and habit at a younger age.  I've read around about the topic a little, but thought I might spark a fresh conversation about it with my MyFicoers.  At what age did you do this for your kiddos and what process did you use to go about it?

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@SoCalifornia, I added my twin daughters (will be 17 in a week or so)

as AU's on (3) of my oldest Major cards and (1) old Chevron Card.

Sadly I did not use Amex as they would only report from the time I would have added them.

or at least that is what I read. I explained to them why I did it, and what credit is for ..and No they did not get any of the cards.

they will have to learn on their own. Just giving them a jump start so to speak.

[PutThatMoneyOnTheTable]

My daughter is 11yrs, I added her as an AU on my BOA card. When she the is 13yrs she'll be added to my Amex. I opened a credit union account where I deposit $20 every month. She'll have that money as a down payment on her first car and a relationship with the CU. She will not have access to any of my cards but when the time is right she can start off with a secured or unsecured card (whichever they decide to give her) from the credit union.

[iced]

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@SoCalifornia wrote:

My daughter is turning seventeen in less than two weeks.  So, I'm considering adding her as an AU on one of my accounts in order to get the ball rolling, so to speak.  She's a more-than-common responsible teenager, but it's not really about handing a card over to her.  It's mostly about providing a start so that she can begin to build her own credit.  As a teen, I was never really exposed to the credit world and took it upon myself to create a healthy file and understanding.  But she has better opportunity to have a strong file and habit at a younger age.  I've read around about the topic a little, but thought I might spark a fresh conversation about it with my MyFicoers.  At what age did you do this for your kiddos and what process did you use to go about it?

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My kid is nowhere near 18 yet (not even 1 yet), but at no age will I do this for my kid. Making my daughter an AU isn't doing her a single favor. All it does is artificially pad her credit score.

My plan instead is to educate her about:

1. Finance. She will be exposed her to self-managing finances. She already has a personal brokerage account in her name that, when she's older, she will be an active participant in managing. She can see how money can grow, how to budget, and will feel involved in controlling her own finances. This account will transition into her college savings, so she'll have the added bonus of having contributed to the development of her own education fund rather than hoping for money to rain from the sky.

2. Delayed gratification. Along with number 1 above, she will learn to resist impulse as the long-term rewards outweigh the short-term rush.

If she picks up on those two items, her credit report will build itself.

[Anonymous]

All 3 of my kids became AU on my Amex Gold on their 13th birthday. They get to build a credit profile and have access in case of an emergency. I can put as little as $250 available spend, and being an Amex it has to be PIF each month, which I make them responsible to pay themselves after their 16th birthday. I want them to never use another card and to learn to PIF each month (dont charge what you cant afford), while building a credit profile/history at a young age (13).

[Anonymous]

Can anyone attest to the value of not only adding your child as an authorized user (the type that counts, with SSN#) to just any card, but the card with the longest history (assuming it's 100% clean and 0% utilization). 

Does the entire history appear on their report, or just the months going forward? If the former, you could "hit the ground running" with a score untainted by excessively young credit, it seems. 

Thoughts? 

[UH_HUH]

My 12 yo daughter has a 12K credit card she carries in the back of her iPhone case.

She has called me to ask if she can buy something for $2.99 with it.She is very responsible.

I also get updates when she spends $$ like @IamTheDevil gets. I asked her to buy groceries

for about two weeks bc of this pandemic and the bill was less then I would have spent.Her Grandmother

apparently teaches her about coupons,not in my wheelhouse. Also on many of my cards for the early start

to good credit reasons.