Credit Cards and Teens

An article in today's edition of The Wall Street Journal (free at this writing) talks about the importance of teaching teens about credit (and establishing a credit history).

Recent changes in the law will make it harder for teens to get credit cards and establish a history of responsible use. The first consequence is cheered by many. The second has the potential to make life more difficult for them once they leave school.

The article makes some basic suggestions to help your students build a solid credit history before they strike out into the world. I think they all are good and will help students develop good credit habits before they leave home, rather having their first encounter being a poorly informed one. I've always felt shielding students from credit before they go out on their own was the equivalent of throwing a child into the pool without teaching them to swim.

I know many personal finance advocates will point at the data in the first paragraph of the article. And I concede that point. But I suspect some sound, supervised use of credit before entering college could have reduced those numbers significantly.

I look forward to your comments.