When it comes time to give your kids access to a credit card, it’s important that you teach them how to use it responsibly.
Credit cards offer flexibility, valuable rewards and better security than cash. But they can also get unwary users into a lot of trouble. So when it comes time to give your kids access to a credit card, it’s important that you teach them how to use it responsibly. This can help them understand both the benefits and the dangers.
The age at which it’s best to give a child a card will depend on the child’s understanding of credit and also his or her maturity, says Nan Morrison, chief executive officer of the Council for Economic Education in New York.
A credit card in teenage hands doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing — as long as you give your kids the knowledge and supervision they need to use credit wisely.